Private Actress
by ashantelle
Summary: I am a private actress. I'll play any role for money, and my stage is real life with real people. I could act as anyone if I'm paid the right price. And I'm paid to be James Potter's fiancee! What in the world is happening? AU and a bit OOC
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except for my characters—if there will be any—and general plot. Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka.

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

Tonight was a beautiful night. The place was perfect, the band was great, the food was delicious, and the decorations were certainly in line with the fairytale theme that screamed 'happily ever after.' The people were dressed up like dolls, dancing at the center, swaying with the music, and others were mingling with the other guests, talking about how lovely the _newlywed_ couple looked together.

You people guessed right, I was attending this lovely couple's wedding. Do you know what was strange in this situation?

It was that I don't have an inkling of relation to those two lovebirds up there in their own table. I knew a lot about them, sure, but they didn't know me _at all_.

You must wonder why I'm here in the first place. Well, you'll find out soon enough.

* * *

_Tink tink tink._

A woman was continuously tapping her wineglass with her fork to get the attention of the guests. The band stopped playing, and she waited for everyone to settle down and give their attention to her. When everyone seemed ready to listen, she started to speak on the makeshift stage. From what I remember from the wedding, she was the maid of honor who was also the host of the entire wedding reception.

"Ladies and gentlemen. As you all know, we are here to celebrate the marriage of Krizia and Martin," she paused for a while because of the audience's applause and catcalls upon hearing the names of the newlyweds. The aforementioned couple smiled widely, with a tinge of red staining their cheeks from slight embarrassment.

"But sadly, this evening is nearing its end, and we could tell that Martin is eagerly waiting for his wedding night," she winked at the couple and earning a few laughs from the guests.

"Let us end our evening with the traditional throwing of the bride's bouquet of flowers, and the groom's garter. You know what happens to the people who caught them, right?" she said, looking mischievous.

"All the young single ladies, please go to this side of the room," she pointed at the right side of the room. "And all the young single gents gather first because the throwing of garter will be after the throwing of the bouquet." And all of those mentioned gathered together.

I was one of the ladies here that fit the criteria of 'young and single', so I should be one of the people trying to catch the bouquet. There was an old myth that the person who catches the bride's bouquet will be the next one to be married. Of course, I don't believe in it, but it was pretty funny how some people take it seriously and reach for the bouquet as if their life depended on it.

It was time. The bride was in front with her back facing us, and the ladies surrounding me were anxious to catch the bouquet. I appeared to be anxious too. After all, I should appear like I was a real guest in this wedding.

"3…" We clenched our fists, itching to get it.

"2…" We raised our hands halfway.

"1!" Another split second and she threw the bouquet backwards, towards us.

Every single one of us looked like idiots trying to catch it. Everyone was flailing their arms, trying to push others around them. Some even tried jumping to get it, and it seemed that everyone wanted to catch it. Well, except me, of course, but I needed to act like I did. It was pretty funny, if you ask me.

Since I knew I had a lot of competition for the bouquet, I wasn't expecting to get it. After all, I didn't want it in the first place. So when I felt something touch my hand, and I involuntarily clutched it, I unexpectedly became the 'lucky' person who had caught it. When that fact finally dawned on me, I quickly tried to give it to someone else, but it was too late.

"The lady with the red hair, please come up here," she said. That was unmistakably me as I was the only redhead in this crowd. It was too late to back out now.

I went in front, on the stage, holding the cursed bouquet in my right hand. I smiled and waved at the guests, appeared to be looking pleased with having caught it. I was in for it now.

"Now it's the men's turn. Gentlemen, fight for the garter! This lovely woman is definitely waiting for you!" She laughed. I just smiled at them, even though I didn't like what she said about me.

Then the whole process started again, but this time, they were men, not women, vying for the garter.

"3… 2… 1!" The groom threw the garter backwards, towards the anxious gentlemen.

I didn't know what was funnier: the women pushing each other for the bouquet, or the men fighting each other for the garter. They, being men, were more 'active' in trying to get the garter. I didn't know why they wanted it in the first place! Not only did they push those around them, some were pushing others down to push themselves up to get an advantage. I didn't think they were that eager to catch it. I mean, it would make more sense if the women were fighting to catch the bouquet, than men fighting to catch the garter.

I was on the stage, trying hard not to laugh for the sake of politeness, but the woman beside me—the host—was laughing to her heart's content.

"Gentlemen, who was victorious?"

"I am!" A man with black raven hair and hazel eyes that hid behind his round glasses said, sporting a triumphant grin as he raised the garter. He looked disheveled because of the 'fight' he had gone through to get it. He looked familiar to me for some reason.

"Then please come up the stage, and we'll proceed to the final event of this tradition,"

I blushed. This handsome—yes, he was really good-looking, I admit. Kind of my type really—man would be raising the garter up to my thigh.

A chair was placed in the middle of the stage for me to sit in. I felt really embarrassed.

"Don't be shy, dear," the host said to me. I bet she was laughing inside. I could feel it.

Suddenly, someone took my free hand—I was holding the bouquet in my other hand—and led me towards the chair. I looked at him, and he just smiled at me, like he wasn't bothered with anything that is and will be happening. Okay, so he wasn't bothered. I bet, like any other hormonal male, this would be the perfect opportunity to feel someone up. Just like he was reading my mind, he said…

"Don't worry, I won't feel you up. I'm a gentleman to beautiful ladies," I didn't know why, but I believed what he said, but on the latter part, he was just plainly flirting with me. I looked at him straight and gave him a charming grin. I was not the kind of woman who backs down easily.

As I sat in the chair, I noticed everyone was staring at us, and they were quiet. Maybe they could feel the tension between us. I was certainly feeling it, but maybe it was the chemistry between us. We were quite the pair.

I slowly lifted a part of my dress up until my mid-thigh, and he kneeled in front of me. It seemed like we were in our own little world as we looked into each other's eyes.

With his deft fingers, he removed my shoe and placed it on the floor. He put the garter through my foot, and slowly raised it higher. He was taking his time. I looked at him the entire time, and I was feeling pleasurable tingles on where his fingers touched. The garter was up to my calf, slowly raising it to my knee, and finally my thigh.

It seemed that for the whole time he was raising it up, I held my breath and released it when he finally finished. He looked up to me, and smiled. The guests, our audience, applauded, whistled, and catcalled when he was done. I didn't notice them, honestly.

Part of the tradition was not only raising it up, but also pulling it down from my leg afterwards. Oh, it will be pure pleasurable torture again!

Just he was going to pull it down, the host stopped him.

"Let us do this the old fashioned way," she smiled mischievously again. "Pull the garter down using your teeth,"

After she made that announcement, another round of whistles and catcalls were heard from our audience. I blushed at the idea. He looked at me with a glint in his eye, and his mouth was forming a wide grin. I blushed harder. This will definitely be something to remember about tonight.

Everyone was silent again. His face slowly moved closer to the garter. I could feel his breath over the skin of my thigh. I was definitely feeling the tension.

His teeth caught the edge of the garter, and he slowly pulled it down. My face was red from embarrassment and from something else. His breath on my skin made me feel those pleasurable tingles again, only this time, it was even more pleasurable.

The garter was down to my knee, slowly pulling it down my calf, my ankle, and finally pulled it out through my foot. He placed the garter in his wrist and put on my shoe to my foot, like I was Cinderella in Disney fairytales.

Another round of whistles and catcalls was heard, and we were pulled out from our own little world. He offered his hand so that I could stand, and we smiled at each other.

"Thank you for attending the wedding. I hope you had fun, especially in our last event. Let us again congratulate the newlywed couple, Martin and Krizia!" This cued a deafening applause from the guests. "May you live happy lives together, and create beautiful children. Have fun on your honeymoon!" She shouted over the din. When the guests settled down, the groom began to speak.

"Thank you, Lissa, for everything, and making the wedding a success. We would be taking our leave now, and the car is waiting for us in front. Thank you for attending our wedding!" He and the bride hastily made their way to the exit, where the car was waiting for them. They looked so happy together, and it was moments like these that make these assignments bearable and satisfying. The event was finally over.

Since the couple had my attention, I didn't notice that my 'partner' for the last event was still beside me. I just noticed him when he took my hand and did something totally unexpected.

He kissed the back of my hand.

After that, he smiled and winked at me, then walked away. I was glad he did it when the attention wasn't all on us. Everyone would see how red I would be! That would definitely be embarrassing. He still looked familiar to me though. He would be a fond memory of this assignment.

Everyone was going home, including me. I just had to make one call first. I went to a secluded part of the room and called someone.

"Hey, the assignment is done. It had gone through perfectly without any glitches,"

"Thank you for doing this assignment. It was probably easy for you to act as a guest,"

"I needed money right now, so, why not? Please transfer the money to my account. Thanks,"

"Will do," I hung up the phone, and went home. I was too busy thinking about _that_ man that I didn't notice a pair of eyes following me as I hailed a taxi to go home.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Hello there! If you reached this part of the story, then thank you. You had read the whole thing. I loved the whole bouquet-garter thing. I looked it up in the internet, and it was too adorable that I had to use it. I also wrote their first romantic encounter just for fun. Haha!

I hope you liked it! The idea was from a manga that some of you might know—Private Actress. I love that manga. I do not claim the idea as mine, so don't sue me, ok?

Read and review please! I want to know what you think. I do not accept flames though. If you didn't like it, then don't bother reviewing!

If you liked this story, why not read my other fic, Loving You. Thanks!


	2. The Mystery Client

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k? Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka. Some additional things, I used some Starbucks items in the story, so I don't own them too. Don't sue me, k?

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 2: The Mystery Client **

_It had been weeks since my last assignment, and I was itching to get a new one soon. I never knew I would get my wish so fast._

I was dressing up for school in my own apartment. Since it was still so early, I didn't rush myself. There was plenty of time to put on a disguise.

_Ring…ring…ring…_

I heard my phone ringing, and I was surprised that someone was calling me this early in the morning. And even without looking at the caller ID, I already knew who it was. After all, there was only one person who knew my number. I answered the call.

"Ryan? Why are you calling this early? I immediately said. This was an unusual occurrence, so I was quite puzzled by the call. If you're asking who he is, Ryan is my manager in the agency I worked for. I'll tell you more about it later.

"I wanted to make sure you were still in your apartment," he said offhandedly, but there was a tad bit of anxiousness in his voice. It was not noticeable though. "Could you come by the agency after your classes? You have a new assignment."

When he said the word 'assignment,' he had my full attention, but something about this was puzzling me. What was so special about this assignment that he would call me in the morning just to tell me about it, something he never did before.

"Let's just say that this one is a special client," he said mysteriously when I asked him about it. I just raised my eyebrow even though he couldn't see me through the phone, but I didn't push the subject since I would eventually find out later. He piqued my curiosity, though.

"Of course I'll go," I said in response to his 'unusual' request. "I've got get ready now so I could go to school early. It's better to arrive when there are almost no students in the classroom. So, I'll see you later after class?"

"Yeah, I'll wait for you at the lobby area." And before I could ask why he would wait for me, he hung up. This client must be really special to get this type of treatment from Ryan. This was way different than my other assignments. In fact, this was the first time he had done this, so I was definitely curious.

When I finished putting on my 'disguise'—not a disguise really, but something to make me unnoticeable, which was me wearing glasses and my hair was in braids—I started to walk to school. I got an apartment so close to school that it was within walking distance. It was definitely an advantage.

* * *

Since it would be boring if I would be narrating all of the things I saw on the way, I would take this opportunity to introduce myself, and in this introduction, you'd get an idea of why I was doing the things I'd done before, like the wedding. 

Ready? I'll start.

I am Lily Marie Evans, age seventeen and attending my senior year at the Hogwarts Academy, my school. Other than my appearance and my job, I should be a completely normal teenage girl. 'Should be' being the operative words there because these two things influenced every aspect of my life, just about making me the complete opposite of a 'completely normal teenage girl.'

I'll start with my looks. I have blood red hair, and you don't usually a redhead in your area, so I'm pretty uncommon. Not only that I have startling green eyes that only some get according to the tricky Punnett Square—if you don't know what this is, then review your biology and genetics. You'd seldom see people with my genetic make-up. The only one I know who has the same features is my mother, the person where I got them from.

If I don't disguise myself, I would surely stand out in a crowd.

But that isn't the only reason I wear a disguise. It's not only to make myself unnoticeable, but to make me into a completely new person in another's eyes. I definitely needed that for the other unusual thing that changed my life—my job.

My job is very unusual, and even I hadn't known it before it was offered to me. You see…

I am a _private actress_.

I'll play any role for money, and my stage is real life with real people. I could act as your daughter, mother, friend, lover—anything—if I'm paid the right price and I have to tell you, it's quite expensive. I'm proud to say that I haven't yet been caught acting even once. What can I say? I'm the best in the business.

That explains why I attended the wedding all those weeks ago. I was paid to be a guest for their wedding. Why they needed to hire guests, I don't know, but at least I get paid just for attending it. It's easy money for someone like me.

I love acting. This is a love that I inherited from my mother since she is an actress—and a famous one too. When I was a kid, she was my inspiration to act, but it is different now.

I don't know whether to be glad or resent her for being an actress. I was born out of her love affair with a famous _married_ actor; therefore I'm the illegitimate child. My mother tries to hide me from the media, since they don't know that the famous single actress, Rose—her nickname—has a child. She sent me into this prestigious school for the rich and gave me my own apartment which she rarely visits.

And when she visits, she's like a stranger to me.

That's why even though I would love to act in a movie or even in a stage; I can't since I'm risking the secrecy of it all. The resemblance between her and me is too much, so I must stay away from the media, and even though she isn't like a mother to me at all, the fact is that she is my mother, and I love her by default.

Now you see how everything is connected to everything else—my job, my family, my life and how I live it.

And that's enough for my introduction. It's quite a monologue. Ha!

* * *

It was still early when I arrived at the school. There were only very few students loitering around the campus. 

My dear readers, welcome to Hogwarts Academy.

Hogwarts Academy is an elite school for the rich. It's normal to find heirs to multimillion dollar companies and corporations, and children of the rich and famous. In my case, I am part of the latter, being the only daughter of Rose.

Honestly, the school was fine. The facilities were nice, classrooms were big and spacious, and the teachers were competent in their subject—as expected of the school which has the best education program in Europe. What I didn't like about it were the students. They thought too highly of themselves because they were the next generation's CEOs and company presidents, inheriting their own family businesses.

Because of my disguise, I was disliked for I didn't look like I would inherit a business, or a child of someone famous—but I am, and I just can't flaunt that fact, sadly. It wasn't too much of a loss since I didn't like to make friends with them anyway. It was a mutual understanding. They just ignored me, which was completely fine since I needed to sneak out and cut class for my other assignments.

Another reason why I didn't like to be friends with them was that they were the kind of people I'm dealing with when I'm on the job. It would be kind of embarrassing if someone were to recognize me while on the job. It would totally destroy the whole assignment. Not only that, they could possibly be my employers. Now, that would be humiliating.

Moving on, I went to our classroom which was quite a distance since the campus was so big. There were still no students inside, and I knew it would be that way for twenty minutes at the least. I already knew by memory the exact times the students arrive in the classroom. After all, I was the first one to arrive. And they just didn't arrive one by one, they moved in packs. That was a plus for me since they wouldn't exactly notice another presence in the classroom. Being inconspicuous is my main reason for arriving earlier than my other classmates. You were more noticed when you're late, not when you're early.

All I could do while waiting was to read and review my notes for the lessons. It wouldn't be long before the first group arrives.

Surprisingly—or unsurprisingly since they were always the first—_they_ arrived with their hordes of admirers—my classmates—in tow.

They were the Marauders, the most popular boys in the school for they were known to be very rich—they were all going to inherit the family business—and handsome—being the crushes of practically the whole of the female population in the school. I was lucky to be in the same class because they kept being the center of attention of the students. All the more, I was not noticed.

I'll start with the short introductions.

The fourth member of the Marauders was Peter Pettigrew. Though not exactly handsome as the other three, he fit the cute type. He had dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and was not tall as the other members. He was a little bit egoistic from what I'd seen because of all the attention given to him. He got away from trouble using his 'cuteness.'

The next was Remus Lupin, the studious one in the group. He had sandy blond hair—darker than Peter's—and brown eyes. Sometimes in recess and lunch, I would see him holding a textbook, but I guess he couldn't study much because of his present company. He also used his laptop for his notes and for checking the stock market. He was very friendly towards everyone including me. I remembered that he smiled at me on the first day of school, even when I was in disguise. Even though he always had a laptop in hand, he wasn't cold or unfeeling, very unlike the stereotypical businessman.

Our next person was the type of guy who could ask any girl out on a date. It wasn't exactly that he was shameless, but he was oozing with confidence that no girl could turn him down. The person I was talking about was Sirius Black. He had black hair and blue eyes that girls just love to get lost in—except me, of course, but I hardly count. He was the clown of the group, always making jokes and pranks. There was never a dull moment when you are with him, since he was just so fun to be with.

And lastly, the leader of the group was…

…James Potter, the most sought after guy in the school. Not only was he rich, but he was also intelligent and athletic. He was the image of a dream guy and the perfect boyfriend that you wish your parents could meet. He was best friends with Sirius, and like him, he was playful and he liked to joke around with his friends. He could play almost any sport, and he was one of the top students in our year. His family also had a big influence in the society

Honestly though, he was a bit too arrogant because of all the attention he was getting.

Well, everybody had flaws, right?

He had messy black raven hair and hazel brown eyes hidden beneath his round glasses. Did he sound familiar?

I had to hit myself when I saw him the next day after the wedding, when I realized that the unforgettable person in that event was none other than James Potter himself. Why didn't I recognize him right away? It was stupid of me not to realize it was him all the time. We went to the same school—we were even classmates—and I didn't recognize him.

Suddenly, I wanted that event erased in my mind. I wanted to forget all those charming smiles and mischievous grins that night. I didn't want to be one of his followers. They were already plenty enough as it was.

Ok, I realized that I was getting sidetracked, so I'll end the introductions here.

Where were we?

Oh yeah…

The Marauders made their grand entrance inside the classroom, and with that, I was no longer alone anymore. Their arrival was the unspoken signal that class was about to start. It was funny how the classroom was empty before they came. They really attracted a lot of people.

The first bell rang, and everybody settled down. Our homeroom teacher arrived; thus starting our classes.

* * *

I was already walking to the agency. School was finished, and I had already changed from my disguise to meet with Ryan. My hair was finally free from those braids, and I removed my glasses. I didn't need them anyway. 

When I saw the building, I felt nervous. I didn't know what was to come, and Ryan didn't brief me about the new assignment. I just hoped it would be something challenging. The wedding assignment was too easy for an experienced PA.

I went inside the building and saw Ryan, true to his word, waiting for me in the lobby. When he saw me, he waved casually and walked towards me.

"You're going to meet the client in a café nearby. I'll try to answer your questions as we go there, k?" I just nodded, and we began to walk.

"So…" I wanted to start the conversation, but he beat me to it.

"The pay for this assignment is very high because the duration of the whole thing will be indefinite," he said, sounding business-like.

"Indefinite? What about the other jobs that may come up?"

"Well, that would be taken care of by other PAs in our agency."

"Are you sure? I'm the best PA in the agency. I've been specially requested because of that."

"Believe it or not, this person also requested for you, and she wouldn't like to take any other PA except you."

"Really? So, what's the assignment?" I asked, really curious what it was about. Who would request for me to do something for an indefinite period of time?

"You know, I also don't know," He looked up, as if he was stalling. I raised my eyebrow and looked at him pointedly.

"What? Are you serious? Why don't you know?"

"It was a special request of the client for her to tell it to you herself."

"Just who is this special client that even the company rules are bent just for her?"

"Well, when you see her, you'll know."

"Couldn't you tell me who she is? I really want to know."

"I'll tell her who I am myself, Ryan." A new voice interrupted our conversation. I was surprised someone other than Ryan replied. I didn't notice that we were already in the café.

The café turned out to be inside the hotel, and it was quite big. It seemed for the higher people in the social ladder.

I looked to the person who interrupted our conversation and saw a beautiful, elegant woman in her late forties. She gave off an aura that she was sophisticated and very rich, like a member of the elite society.

"Thank you Ryan for escorting her here. I'll take it from here."

"You're welcome. Well then, I'll be leaving now. I've got plenty of work to do back at the agency." Then he did something totally unexpected to the client.

He kissed the back of her hand.

But what surprised me even more was that the woman seemed to expect this act. Was this the way they bid each other goodbye every time?

"After this meeting, call me to report what happened," Ryan whispered to my ear as he went out of the café.

"Let's get some seat, shall we?" she said, and walked to the maitre d'. I just followed her, trying to figure out who she was.

"Reservations for Miss Elizabeth Mari, please."

"This way, madam," he led us to a table for four by the corner, gave us the menus, and walked back to his 'throne' by the entrance of the café.

"Let's order first, before I'll introduce myself. Pick anything from the menu. I will be paying."

When she said that, I tried to refuse. After all, I also have money, and it would be embarrassing if she would pay for my share.

"It's alright. I would ask a lot from you later. This would be a little compensation for what you will do—if you decide to accept—for me."

Now, I was really curious as to what was the assignment. I can't help not knowing what it was. I wanted to ask her, but she was busy looking at the menu. That reminded me that I also needed to order, so I looked at the menu too.

What I saw made my eyes widen. The prices were really expensive, so I was unsure on what to order. As if reading my mind she said…

"Order what you want. Disregard the price. I'll take care of it," she said and signaled for a waiter to take our orders. He approached our table with a small notebook in hand.

"What will be your orders, madam?"

"I'll have a New York Cheesecake and a Caramel Macchiato."

"Mademoiselle?" He looked at me, silently asking for my order.

"I'll have Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake and a Café Latte."

"One New York Cheesecake, one Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake, one Caramel Macchiato, and one Café Latte," he said, repeating our orders. We just nodded in response. "Your order will be here in a few minutes," he bowed, got our menus, and went to another table that had to order.

She was the first one to speak.

"My son will be joining us later. He would be involved in your assignment,"

"So, let us finally introduce ourselves," she said, then paused, expecting me to be the first one to introduce myself.

"I am Lily Evangelista, a private actress. I'm seventeen years old, attending my senior year in my school—"

"What's your school, dear?"

"That would remain private. I'm sorry, but this is business, and you shouldn't know anything about my personal life."

"Ok, please continue."

"I've been a private actress since I was fourteen; therefore, I already have experience in any type of assignment. I haven't been caught once, and I plan for it to remain that way. I will agree to your assignment just as long that you would be paying the _right_ price." And that price would definitely be very expensive.

"I'm lucky then. I'm very rich to pay you a very large amount of money," she laughed. I was amazed that she still looked elegant when she laughed. That spoke volumes about her fine breeding. This woman was part of the elite society, definitely.

She seemed to be waiting for me to continue, but I was already finished. When she quickly realized that I wasn't going to continue, she started to introduce herself.

"As you may have heard earlier, my name is Elizabeth Mari, but I just reserved these tables using my maiden name." I listened intently. Just who was she?

"They would treat me differently if I were to reveal my real name," she laughed, thinking what would happen if she did tell her real name.

"It's nice to meet you, Lily Evangelista. I am…"

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Hi there! If you reached this part of the story, thank you for reading! I hoped you liked it. Please read and review!

It's a cliffhanger I know, but when I read it, it doesn't seem to be much effective. It's actually very obvious who the mystery client is. If you don't, then wait for chapter 3!

This chapter was full of introductions. Of course, all of you should know who the main characters in the story are.

Thank you for reading!


	3. The Assignment

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k? Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka.

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 3: The Assignment**

_I didn't show how intent I was on hearing her name. After all, I'm an actress, but I was definitely curious that I couldn't help to lean slightly forward..._

"Nice to meet you, Lily Evangelista, I am…"

"Elizabeth Mari Potter, wife of John Henry Potter, the owner of Potter International, Inc."

She said it with so much pride, and she really had something to be proud of. After all, she was a member of the elite society, where the Potters were classified in. Heck, they were even higher than those elite people. That's how big their influence was, and that was how very rich they were. Now I knew why Ryan was acting like she was royalty.

I was surprised when I heard her full name and position in the Potter household. Why would someone like her be here, hiring me of all people, a private actress?

And why would someone like her specially requested _me_ to do this assignment? She didn't even know me in the first place.

"Excuse me, but when have we met each other? Why would you want me specifically to do this assignment? I didn't know you personally until today," I said, very confused about the whole thing. There were still a lot of missing pieces in this complicated puzzle.

"It wasn't me whom you've already met. It was my son."

Her son? But the only Potter I knew was James.

Then suddenly, it all clicked.

The only time I met James outside of school was the wedding. She must had been there to see me with James.

"So, you saw me--!"

"Is that all, madam?" the waiter interrupted as he finished placing our orders on the table.

"Yes, thank you." He quickly went away.

I was thankful for the interruption. I would've embarrassed myself greatly had I suddenly burst out that she saw me at the wedding.

"So, you saw me at the wedding," I said, regaining my composure. "But how would you know that I was a private actress? My acting was flawless, even though I was just an acting guest."

"I applaud you for that. In my mind, you were really a guest, but I happened to overhear you calling your manager to report what happened. It was then that I realized that you were one of the people with this unknown profession—a private actress. I spent weeks trying to find you through different agencies, but most of them didn't even know what a PA was. I had hit gold when I asked your manager if they had PAs in the agency and if they had hired one with your description."

"Why would you need me? You could've just hired another PA and tell them to dye their hair red and wear green contact lenses."

"I needed it to be you," she plainly said. I just raised my eyebrow in response to this statement.

"My son was your partner in the last event. I could already see the chemistry between the two of you just by him standing beside you. I plan to use that chemistry to my advantage in this assignment."

"You mean your son will be involved in my assignment?"

"Yes, and he would be coming here right about now," she said as she looked at her expensive gold watch. "I thought I had told you this earlier."

"I'm sorry. It's just that everything is hard to take in."

Indeed, it was difficult. James Potter was going to be my partner! I had mixed emotions about this assignment, but I had no right to complain. I said that I would do anything if she would pay the right price. She could definitely afford my price, no matter how high it may be.

Speaking of the devil, he arrived, still in his school clothes, and greeted his mother with a kiss in the cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I lost track of time. I was with the guys…" he trailed off as he saw that his mother had company. His eyes widened when he took in my appearance.

"Wait! You were the girl at the wedding!" he exclaimed. I just gave him a pointed look. He looked around to see people nearby staring at him because of his loudness.

"Sorry," he said as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"James, sit down. You're attracting attention." His mother reprimanded him, and he sat down beside his mother.

"Why am I here, Mother? You could have just told me this at home."

So he didn't know why he was here, either.

"I thought it was better to tell it to both of you at the same time. So that you could talk about the details immediately afterwards.

"So, you were saying, Lily?" I was finally noticed by the mother-son pair.

"I've been meaning to ask you this since the beginning of our meeting. What exactly do you want me to do? What is my assignment?" I said, straight to the point.

"Well…" she started.

"James is graduating this year, and he would be turning eighteen. Potter men are expected to marry at the age of twenty, so there would be two years allotted for him to pick the lucky girl who would be his bride. Definitely, this would be the period where the girls from all social classes, whether or not they are part of the elite society, will try to lure him and seduce him to become his wife."

That was definitely a position that every woman, except me, wanted to be in. Being the wife of James Potter would be a dream most girls had, and now, they had the chance to make it come true. The dream of being rich, living in a mansion, attending all those socialite parties, and possessing hundreds of different dresses to wear was not that far away. They would never have to work for the remaining part of their lives, and still have millions of money in their bank accounts.

When she said this, I noticed James showing a sour look for a split second, and then it disappeared in a blink of an eye. Maybe he didn't agree with these 'terms' of the Potter family.

So, what exactly was my role in this situation?

"I want you to pose as his fiancée and accompany him in all events to prevent him from being compromised."

Wait, did I hear right? I was to pose as James _fiancée_. Not friend, not sister, not even a girlfriend, but to be his _fiancée_? What was this world coming into?

I heard James coughing and spluttering in the background. He was taking a sip from his mother's coffee when Elizabeth 'dropped the bombshell.'

"Sorry, it went down the wrong pipe," he tried to say, but he was still coughing. When he finally settled down, he immediately voiced out what was on his mind.

"What is the point of this, mother? If she were to be my 'fiancée,' how would I search for a girl?" he said, a little bit indignant. So this was the first time he heard of her plans. I saw his point though. I would be a hindrance if he were to begin dating.

"You don't need to be so against it, James. She will not hinder your chances of finding a girl."

"Really? So they would just think that I was cheating on my _fiancée_?" he said, putting emphasis on the last word. What amused me was that he said it with a matching raised eyebrow.

Though I didn't really like this assignment because I had to work with _him_, I didn't show how displeased I was. I had pride in my acting skills; I wouldn't deserve to be a private actress if I lost my composure just like that.

"You haven't let me finish yet, James," she said pointedly at him in an authoritative tone. With that statement, he backed down from the argument. It was really amazing to see the most popular boy in school surrendering to his mother. I bet I was the only one other than the Marauders to see this side of him.

I still had not uttered a single word since she started saying what the assignment was. I wanted to hear the whole explanation first before I comment on it.

"As I've said, she will accompany James in all events and will be introduced as his girlfriend at first, and once he sees a girl that he likes, you, Lily, would help him in all ways possible.

"I plan that on James' eighteenth birthday party—it will be grand, like a debut of sorts—you will be introduced as his unofficial fiancée. I want everything to be credible to the eyes of the public. I trust that you have some experience in these things, Lily, so I would leave those details to you.

"Therefore, the period of the assignment is indefinite, but the maximum will be three years. I will pay you monthly for this tedious task, and I promise you that it will be very high. Everything you need for each event will be provided by me, and you are allowed to keep it afterwards, even the expensive jewelry.

"So, what do you say?" she finally asked me if I was going to accept the assignment. It seemed to me that she was bribing me, but she didn't have to. I knew what my job was.

"I will agree to your terms. I will accompany James in all events, parties, and everything that will involve him meeting other people. I will take responsibility in creating a story for our 'relationship' to be credible. But I want to say this. I will not help him when he sees a girl he likes. I will act as his fiancée, but it isn't part of my contract to help him with getting 'his' girl. I'm not a matchmaker," I said, trying to sound professional. After all, we were making an official agreement here.

"But would you do it as a personal favor from me?" she said lightly, but I could tell that she was sort of commanding me to do it. She was using her manipulative powers to make me do what she wanted. I had to admit, with this method, she was getting her way.

She was definitely a woman of the elite society—manipulative and powerful. That was Elizabeth Mari Potter.

We were communicating with our eyes. We were like in a staring contest, waiting to see who would back down first. I personally thought it was futile for me to fight against her will, but I didn't want to back down. I eventually did, though.

I sighed and nodded in response, looking away and taking a bite out of my uneaten cheesecake. I had no choice but to follow her. She was just that good. Was this how she handled Ryan? I was amazed that he didn't do more things for her if she did.

"I knew you would see it my way," she said smugly.

"Now that everything's settled, I'll leave the two of you to talk and get to know each other. I advise you to plan dates and such to make everything credible," she stood up from our table to leave us, but she said one last thing.

"James, I am expecting your cooperation in this. I'll fetch you in…" she looked at her watch. "…35 minutes. Use this time wisely." Then she left, and we were left to our own devices.

There was an awkward silence between us, and we avoided looking directly at each other's eyes. For my part, I was embarrassed by the wedding. He was meant to be a fond memory, not someone I would see again without a disguise and be partners with.

But I needed to do this—I needed to get along with him even if I don't want to. My job was on the line here.

So despite my embarrassment, I made the first move and looked straight into his eyes. I was determined to erase this tension between us.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced. My name is Lily Evangelista, and I would be your leading actress in this whole act. It's nice to meet you, James Potter." I said this as casual as I could. I put out my hand for him to shake, as a sign of good intentions. He clasped my hand in his.

"Nice to meet you to, Lily," he said, giving a charming smile that showed his dimples. He met my eyes head on, and I saw a mischievous twinkle in his eye. I bet on half of my money that he was remembering _that_ night. I somehow predicted that he will say something about that time, so I spoke first to save myself from humiliation. Acting or not, I looked like a giddy school girl that night—definitely NOT me.

"That night, I was at the wedding because someone paid for me to be there. _That_ girl was not me, understood?" I said crossly. So what if I appeared defensive?

"Yeah, sure, you weren't the one blushing so hard when pulled the garter down off your leg with my teeth. Yeah, you weren't that girl," he said sarcastically, as if he was mocking me.

When he said that, I swear I felt my eye twitch. This guy didn't know his boundaries. My hands which were hidden from his view clenched into fists. My infamous redhead temper was beginning to show.

I tried to calm down, but mere seeing his face made me so infuriated.

My job was on the line here. My job was on the line here. My job was on the line here.

I repeated that line in my head like a mantra to remind me what was important. I seriously needed to calm down for the sake of my job. It was amazing how one simple line from him could get me so infuriatingly mad. In an attempt to move on to business, I closed the current topic and changed the subject of our conversation.

"I'm glad we have that settled," I said, but even I knew it really wasn't, but that would be a discussion in the near future. He raised an eyebrow in response to my statement.

"Moving on, we have to talk about this," I said, trying to sound professional. I got my notebook and pen from my bag to take notes. I had shifted to business mode.

"First, I need to know your ideal girl." I waited for his answer, anything to indicate that he heard what I had said, but he just stared at me with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me?" I said, my annoyance showing through my voice.

"I'm obviously thinking about it. Couldn't you just wait a little more?"

"Sorry, it seemed to me that you were daydreaming about something else," I said, a little edgy. I can't help but be irritated by him. I didn't know whether he was all of this on purpose or not. Besides, I thought every guy had a dream girl in mind. I just wanted him to describe his girl.

I guessed he had not noticed the little edginess in my voice as he continued to answer casually, and he had that irritating twinkle in his eye again that I knew the next thing he would say was not serious at all.

"I like girls with red hair and green eyes—"

"I'm serious here. Describe your dream girl. We only have at least 25 minutes until you're mother comes." I interrupted him. He had the nerve to describe me as his dream girl. I didn't have to assume that he was describing another girl. I was the only one in the area except for my mother who had red hair and green eyes.

"Believe or not, I was serious," he said offhandedly. How could I take him seriously if he said it like that? "But since you won't believe me, I'll settle for a brunette with blue eyes."

Finally, we made some progress.

"She has to be smart, pretty, and athletic. She has her own mind, and she wouldn't fawn over me like a typical admirer. She can hold intellectual conversations, and she wouldn't back down easily in an argument. She must also get along with my friends. That's all I'm looking for in a girl."

Wow, he could be surprisingly deep and serious if he wanted to. I wrote everything he said in my notebook.

Being his ideal girl would be easy, I already had most of the qualities he was looking for.

"We have to make everything credible; therefore, we must go on dates to set up a rumor that you are dating someone. I'll think of a story that will help back up our 'relationship.' Leave everything to me, and our act will be perfect," I said confidently. I was getting warmed up to this assignment. I missed this feeling of excitement in the few short weeks I was free of any assignments.

"When are you free? We must start immediately so that everything will be successful. Let's discuss other details on our first date."

"I'm free next Saturday."

"Good, let's go out on a date next Saturday."

"Where do you live? I should pick you up. It's our first date after all," he offered. After all, it was the gentlemanly thing to do.

"Let's just meet at the park near the train station."

"Wouldn't it be better if I fetched you from your home?"

"We're going to meet at the park near the station," I said it in a way that he couldn't argue.

"Fine," he sulked in his seat for a moment. I didn't know why he was so adamant on fetching me from my apartment. Was he trying to know where I lived?

After his sulky response, there was a silence that followed. Neither was speaking to the other. I was waiting for him to say something—anything.

"So, what school do you go to?" he asked out of the blue.

"What school do you want me to go to?" I thought he was still thinking about the assignment and that we were thinking of my background as his fiancée.

"No, you misunderstood. What school do _you_ go to?" When I finally got what he was trying to say, I tried to tell him off.

"Let's just get this straight," I can't believe I forgot to tell him this.

"You will not know anything about my personal life. This includes where I live, what school I go to, and what is my real name, among other things. I keep my business life and private life separate, got it?"

"That's no fun. I want to get to know more about you as a person, not you as a character we just made up for the sake of this assignment."

"Too bad since it's against company rules. You'll just have to live with it—"

"Are you done?" A voice interrupted our conversation.

Elizabeth arrived with several bags in her hand. I bet she had gone shopping when she left us. I observed the bags she carried and noticed that each were from a designer store. She must be really rich to afford that many designer clothes. I really envied the life of the rich and famous.

"Yes," I said with a little bit of edge in my voice. I glanced at him to see his reaction, but he appeared calm, like we weren't having an argument just before she arrived.

"Good, we need to go now, James. You're father is waiting for us at home. Thank you, Lily, for accepting the assignment," she smiled at me. Who could actually refuse that smile and charming personality?

"I've also paid for the food before I went here, so everything is settled."

"Thank you and you're welcome, Mrs. Potter—" I said, a little bit embarrassed about her paying for my share.

"Call me Elizabeth. After all, we are going to 'related' in the near future," she winked at me and laughed. I just smiled in response.

"You're welcome, Elizabeth. Please set up another meeting so that I could explain to you the details that James and I discussed."

"Will do. We've got to go now, so see you next time." And with a handshake that sealed everything, she walked out of the café, expecting James to follow her on the way out.

"See you next Saturday, Lily."

"Yeah, see you." I was not actually looking forward to this meeting, but I must go for the Elizabeth's sake.

He gave a small wave before following his mother out of the café. I was left alone thinking to myself…

_This will be one heck of an assignment. Definitely._

**End of Chapter

* * *

**

**Author's Notes:**

Hi there! If you reached this part of the chapter, then thank you for reading!

I hoped you liked this chapter. I had all weekend to write it. Please review! I want to know what you think of it.

I definitely got Lily into character here. She wasn't that all fond of James, just like in the books.

I'll update maybe in two to three weeks, but the more reviews I get, the faster I write! Haha! Just kidding! The joke was half-meant though.

Thank you Mia for beta-ing this chapter. To all those who read the unbeta-ed version, there are a few changes, but it still retains the same idea.

Please review! Out of the 200 people who viewed this chapter, only 13 people reviewed. I want to reach 35 reviews! Pretty please? --puppy dog eyes--


	4. The First Date

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k? Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka.

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 4: The First Date**

_I had mixed feelings about this date, but I needed to grin and bear it. Let's just hope everything will go smoothly._

It was late morning, and I was in my apartment searching my wardrobe for something to wear for our 'first date.' I couldn't find anything suitable, and I didn't know why. I never had a hard time picking an outfit. I didn't know what was different in this situation.

Honestly, it looked like I was really preparing for a real first date—which this thing was totally not, in any way you look at it.

I was glad I decided to dress up early because if I hadn't, I would definitely be late. When I finished picking what to wear, I was left with little time to put on my brown wig and blue colored contacts. I also needed to consider my travel time.

Really, being a private actress was hard business.

I walked to my special walk-in closet full of PA necessities. This closet is pretty special to me because whenever things 'get rough' with my job—like now, for example—I just needed to go inside this special place to make myself forget how hard my job really was.

Because inside my closet was practically everything a girl could ever wish for—countless clothes, plenty of shoes, and a lot of expensive jewelry and accessories. Not only that, I also had a lot of make-up, and different colors of wigs and contact lenses. All of them were provided by the agency to help with my disguise, and this was definitely a great perk in this hard job of mine. I should've picked my outfit here, but for some reason that I was being indecisive that day, I decided to search my own wardrobe because it had fewer choices and it was still fashionable.

I quickly put on my wig and contacts, and with my expertise in applying make-up that I'd gotten through the years of being a PA, I turned into a completely new person. This was another thing that made me love my job besides my love for acting—the disguise. There was something about being someone completely different that fascinated me to no end.

After applying lip gloss on my cherry pink lips, I had officially finished dressing up for my 'first date,' and I must say that I looked fabulously gorgeous—a girl fit to be beside _the _James Potter, the famous and handsome heir of _the _multimillion dollar company, Potter International, Inc.

And may I say that I was going to be fashionably late for our date if I didn't go out right about _now_? So I picked up my small bag and quickly went out the door.

* * *

It turned out that I wasn't that late from our agreed time. I arrived at the park about 15 minutes late, and I found him sitting on a bench, looking around trying to look for me and checking his watch to see what time it was. It was pretty funny because he seemed impatient and worried. Did he really think I would leave him here by himself, when it was I who set up this date? I do take my work seriously, you know. 

I walked in front of him, wanting to see if he would notice or recognize me, but he didn't, and that made me all the more proud of my disguise. Since he didn't 'know' me, I decided to play with him a little bit, just for fun. I tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Excuse me, are you James Potter?" I asked. I was playing the role of the innocent friend.

"Yes," he said, but he was not looking at me since he was too busy searching out for 'me.' Maybe he thought that I was an admirer so he was rude to me and hoped I would go away. Too bad there was no chance of that happening.

"My friend Lily said that she couldn't come, and that I should come in her place," I said.

When I said that, he quickly looked at me, and I nearly laughed at the comical look on his face. His eyes were a bit wide, his eyebrow was raised, and his mouth was a little open. He looked a little bit like a fish out of the water. It was very funny.

"What?" he exclaimed, confusion written all over his face.

That was the last straw. I laughed at his face, and he looked at me like I was a lunatic. After all, he didn't know what was funny in this situation.

"James, it's me Lily. I'm in disguise," I said after I calmed down. "Remember that I asked you about your ideal girl? You said it was a brunette with blue eyes. So…" I trailed off and tilted my head. I think he got the idea.

"You scared me because I thought you weren't coming. By the way, you're fifteen minutes late!" he said, trying to change the topic so that his embarrassing moment wouldn't be terribly noticed. I let him off the hook, for now.

"Sorry, I couldn't get the train to go faster," I said sarcastically. Though I knew I was at fault, I didn't back down. I went here by train because it was cheaper and it was easier than to hail a taxi. It was faster too since I wouldn't be slowed down by traffic.

He looked at me pointedly, trying to make me apologize for my lateness. I will, eventually; I was not that stubborn and prideful.

"Ok, let's start over. We got off on the wrong foot," I said, shifting into actress mode. For now, I'm not Lily Evans, but James Potter's girlfriend and soon-to-be fiancée.

"Hello James, did you wait long? I'm sorry I was late. I took a long time choosing what to wear," I said, looking a little embarrassed. I could see he was a little confused because I changed my attitude, but decided to ride along.

"Not really, I just got here about 5 minutes ago," he said, a little bit embarrassed too. So he was giving me a hard time for nothing! He was also late, and yet he kept complaining about me being late. It was either his complaints were because he was defensive, or he was just plainly being hypocritical. I hoped it was the former.

"Let's have lunch. I'm pretty hungry, and it's already noon,"

"Where do you want to have lunch, milady?" he said charmingly. I guessed he already recovered from his embarrassment and he was back to his old annoying self.

"There's a pizza parlor at the end of the street. You want to eat there?"

"Don't you want to eat at a restaurant? I'm paying, so you don't need to worry about anything," he said. Maybe he didn't want finger food, and honestly, I didn't want it either, but I had my reasons to pick it.

"But it's the most popular place for teens right now. There would definitely be a lot of people," I said, thinking it would be better if many people saw us. Someone from school was bound to see us, and by the end of next week, there'll be rumors about him getting a girlfriend, or at least, dating a girl. That would accomplish part one of this whole assignment.

It was all planned in my mind. I needed to show that he was dating me secretly. That meant I was different from his other girlfriends. It could also translate to 'I don't want you to get harassed by my admirers,' because if he were to date me publicly, I would definitely get hate mail from his fan club and stalkers. That was how hard being the girlfriend of James Potter was. I had seen plenty of girls in our school who cried every time they were bullied or harassed, but they never reported to James what happened to them, but I knew James knew all of those things. He just didn't do anything about it.

Well, either way, the situation was at my advantage for my image as his 'significant other.' It simply meant that I was _special_—more special than his other girlfriends.

"But isn't it better to eat at a restaurant?" he said, still insisting to go to places other than that pizza parlor. He didn't get the subtle hint, obviously.

"Why don't you want to go to the pizza parlor?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted it to be special, somewhat. Don't you think it would be more credible if I treated you to a more suitable restaurant? Plus, there are a lot of people there, I'm sure."

"You see, that's the point of going in there—for many people to see us _together_, like a couple," I said.

"But, don't—?" I finally had enough, and I slipped from my cool demeanor.

"We're going to the pizza parlor, and that's final." I said, not leaving any room for argument. This guy just didn't get it.

"Fine," he said a little curtly. "This isn't a real date anyway."

From how he was acting, I'd think he wanted this to be a real date, but it really wasn't. Did he expect anything more? I had to say though, that he was good in acting because he had immediately plastered a smile on his face right after our small argument, like he was not sulking a little bit earlier. Now that made me wonder, was he acting all this time? I didn't know what to think.

"Hey, don't feel bad. This is also for your sake. Just follow my lead, and we'll make this whole thing credible and perfect," I said, trying to cheer him up, even for a little bit. I honestly didn't want to be with a sulking boy all day.

"It's fine. I was just disappointed that we couldn't go somewhere else. I would've wanted to treat you in a better restaurant, but if you wanted to go to the pizza parlor, then the pizza parlor it is," he said, then smiled warmly at me.

That was sweet. He was being thoughtful, and I could honestly say that I hadn't seen this side of him yet. Was he really the guy that was so apathetic to his harassed girlfriends?

We began to walk alongside each other. There was a comfortable silence between us, not awkward in the least. So in my first attempt to look like a couple in public, I walked closer to him, held his hand, and interlaced my fingers with his. I blushed a bit at my forwardness. Acting or not, it was pretty embarrassing to be that forward. I blushed even more when I felt his hold on my hand tighten.

I would have to get used to this and _a lot more things_ if were to pretend to be his girlfriend slash fiancée. It wasn't that I was innocent at these things, but it was James Potter who we are talking about here. He was definitely different than other guys.

When we arrived at the pizza parlor, the place was full of people—adults and teenagers alike. This was the perfect place to be all couple-like. It will definitely spread rumors around school. I even saw a few schoolmates of mine in one corner.

"Try to get seats, and I'll order for us both," he said as he waited in line to order. "What do you want?"

"Since I picked the place, you pick the food. I'll get us some seats." I looked around for unoccupied seats to find none, so I had to wait a little. Luckily, a couple by the window stood up to leave, and they were near me so I quickly went there to save the seats. I signaled for a busboy to clean the table.

When James arrived with our food, I noticed some women staring at him in the corner of their eyes. I knew he was handsome, so I really was not surprised at these actions. It was inevitable, actually. Apparently, he appealed to all ages—from children to adults. I found it a little funny. How could this guy have so much charisma?

"Let's dig in. I'm starving!" he said as he sat down next to me, and then grinned. He really was a charming guy, I admit.

We started to eat and talk about anything under the sun. It was only this time that I was comfortable around him. For some reason, I couldn't be completely at ease with him; I just tried not to show it. We finished the food quickly, as we were really hungry, and we were just talking. Now was the perfect opportunity to start all those rumors.

I waited until we finished talking since it was rude to just suddenly change the subject of conversation.

"Hey, let's start acting like we're a couple. It's the perfect time. If you didn't notice, a lot of people are staring at us," I whispered to him.

"Yeah, I noticed," he said a little bitingly, and then he looked at some people, though I couldn't pinpoint which ones he was looking at. Huh? It seemed like he was talking about something else.

As we talked, I moved closer and closer to him. He looped his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned on him. His free hand held my right hand. It was a comfortable position, and he had a warm body that was nice to lean on to, I admit. I shook my head a little to erase those thoughts. I shouldn't be thinking like that, I really shouldn't.

We were talking again, but in hush whispers, as if we didn't want anyone to overhear what we were saying. We kept whispering in each other's ear, like we were saying sweet nothings to each other. It appeared like that, but what we were saying were totally different from what one would expect. Instead of the 'sweet nothings,' we were talking about what we were going to do next.

"Hey, what do you want to do next?" he whispered to me.

"Do you want to go shopping?"

"I'm fine with anything." I smiled, as if he said something sweet. It was all projection, after all. What we were doing was major PDA--Public Display of Affection--, and we were getting the expected results from our 'audience.' My schoolmates in the far corner were whispering among themselves and pointing to James. I bet they were gossiping about me. The women who were staring at James finally looked away, getting the hint that he was not single.

So this was what it was like if you were James Potter's girlfriend—you unofficially got bragging rights. You got to gloat to women that you had this fine specimen of man as your boyfriend.

"Hey, let's go," I whispered to him. "Mission accomplished."

"Sure, ok," he said, and then he did something I didn't expect.

He kissed my cheek.

My eyes widened a bit, and I blushed a little by the gesture because of embarrassment. A lot of people were looking from the corner of their eyes. He was so willing to look like a couple. Well, I couldn't just let that pass, could I?

I retaliated with a kiss near his lips. Not on his lips, but just the corner of it. I inwardly laughed at his expression. I knew I was a tease. I bet he didn't expect I would do that. It just showed how much he knew me—which he didn't at all.

When that surprised face turned into a mischievous look and that irritating sparkle in his eye reappeared, I already knew what was going to happen next, and I definitely will NOT let him do it.

He leaned towards me again, but I stopped him by putting two fingers on top of his lips.

"Let's save that for later, ok?" I winked at him. Honestly, I just wanted to stall more time before the inevitable arrives. I wasn't that willing to be a couple yet. "Let's go."

We stood up from our tables and walked to the entrance, our hands still connected. We felt all eyes on us, and I saw some girls staring jealously at me. Ha! They could stare all they want, but I still got this man by my side no matter what they do.

Without warning, James placed his arm around my shoulder a little bit possessively, and quickly went out the pizza parlor. Did I miss something? Did something happen that I didn't know? Why was he in a hurry to get out? It wasn't like we weren't near the door already. I raised my eyebrow at him, silently asking him what was going on. In response—or lack thereof—he looked straight ahead, as if he didn't notice my expression. I decided to let it pass. I didn't want another argument, after all.

We decided not to get a taxi, but to walk to the nearest mall. It wasn't that far, and we needed 'exposure' as much as possible. I decided to start the conversation.

"James…"

"Lily?" he replied.

"Tell me about yourself," I said. I was curious about him, and I wanted to fill up this silence between us.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Friends?" I shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I belong in a group, and we call ourselves Marauders—"

"Why?" I interrupted him. I honestly was curious as to why they called themselves that.

"We like the name, and we consider ourselves quite the troublemakers in school." Yeah, they were the cause of most of the pranks that happened in the classroom. I felt pity if someone were to challenge them or antagonize them. Not only will they be pranked everyday by the Marauders, they'll be treated like they were excommunicated by the whole school. People wouldn't go near them in fear of being pranked as well, and the enemy of the Marauders are considered the enemy of the practically the whole female population—their admirers—which constitutes one half of the whole student body.

"Anyway, we are four in the group: me, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. I'm closest to Sirius, though. He's practically my brother judging on how long we knew each other. He always comes by our house, making him like a second son to my mother."

"I should meet them sometime. Have you already told me to your friends?" I asked. His friends also had a vital part in this whole assignment.

"Yeah, kind of," he said, looking away. That gesture meant something.

"James Potter, what do you mean 'kind of'? Have you told your friends about me or not?" I asked him directly.

"They know you as the girl I met in the wedding—the redhead with green eyes. I told them everything that happened at the wedding, except Remus since he was with me at the event. They don't you as the brunette with blue eyes who is my 'girlfriend'."

"Well, those two girls had different identities. After all, they don't know my name yet, do they? I need to meet them as your girlfriend, or at the least, you tell them about me. It wouldn't be nice if they'll hear the news from people other than you."

"Fine, I'll tell them as soon as possible. You want to meet them?" he asked, not getting the reason why it needed.

"Of course, I do. They'll add credibility to our relationship."

"I'll set up a date then," he said, agreeing with me.

"I'll give you my mobile number later."

"Ok, thanks."

By the time we finished our conversation, we reached the mall, and I was already excited to shop. I was already planning to torture James by making him follow me through every store I wanted to look in. He would not escape.

"James, get ready," I said mysteriously with a certain twinkle in my eye. I would certainly make him regret going shopping with me. I can't wait!

"Uh, Lily, what are you planning?" he said, a little cautious of me.

"Oh, nothing," I said, trying to look innocent by looking upwards and humming a little.

"Lily, I'm getting scared,"

I didn't answer and only gave him an 'innocent' smile. I tugged at our still connected hands—yes, it was like that the whole time—to the first shop I saw. Let the fun begin!

* * *

"Aren't you done shopping yet?" James said, exhausted. I honestly wasn't finished yet, but for his sake, I'll stop. I still have the energy to continue though. 

"Fine, we're done for the day," I said, secretly taking pleasure in his moment of 'weakness'. We had gone through so many shops, and yet he was only holding two bags. It must be pure torture for him.

"On our next date, I'll take you to the movies. I'll never ever take you shopping again," he said. I told you I'll make him regret it. Personal mission, accomplished.

"Don't say that. Don't you love me?" I said jokingly, fluttering my eyelashes at him. I laughed at my own silliness.

"Yeah, I do," he said like he really meant it, but I knew he didn't. With those words, the whole atmosphere changed. It was another romantic moment.

He kissed my cheek again, but this time he didn't settle for just one and quickly changed direction, heading for my lips. I wouldn't let him, not just yet, so before his lips arrived at their destination, I quickly moved away, making him kiss the air. I laughed at him.

"Hey, you're not supposed to—!" he didn't finish what he was saying because I kissed him at the other corner of his lips. I really enjoyed being such a tease. After that I quickly walked ahead of him, still giggling, and left him there like a goldfish. When he finally returned to the real world, he ran to catch up with me. He was lucky I was still in his line of sight.

"That's unfair, Lily!" he said, pouting a little bit.

"Nothing is fair, James. Nothing is fair," I said as I patted his head like a dog. I was still grinning at him

As I spent more time with James, I felt more at ease with him, and I had no problem acting like we were a couple. We'd done a lot of PDA during the whole trip that it was enough to make someone puke, but it was still pretty believable. It should be. We were acting like a newlywed couple, after all.

The date was ending, and we already left the mall, heading for the park near the train station. Our starting point will be our ending point as well. As we walked, we still tried to keep up our playful banter. It was to fill up the silence that would definitely be there if one of us would stop talking. This was better than that.

We slowed down as we reached our destination. Even our conversation was slowly dying down. By the time we stopped, no one was talking, and there was silence between us.

"So…" I said.

"So…" he replied. Both of us didn't know what to say.

"I had fun, honestly," I continued.

"Me too. When will be our next date?"

"Let's just call each other to set up another date. Here's my number," He lent me his phone, and I saved my number.

"So…" I said again.

"So…" he replied again. This was getting repetitive, so I ended the conversation, and at the same time, ending the date.

"See you," I gave him a small wave.

"Yeah," he replied. He seemed distracted by his thoughts, as if contemplating to do something or not.

Well, with that said, I turned around to go to the train station so I could get home. I wasn't that far away from him when I heard him shout.

"Lily, wait!" he walked fast to catch up to me. Was he forgetting something? I turned around and waited for him, thinking he had something important to say. He stopped in front of me, and I just looked questioningly into his eyes. He leaned closer to me.

"You forgot to give me a goodbye kiss," he whispered in my ear, and in the next thing I knew, we were kissing for the next eight seconds. The moment his lips touched mine, I felt my eyes close. My mind was blank and was not processing anything. All I could think of was his lips _on top of mine_.

"Bye Lily," he said breathily as he released my lips, and then walked away. Now I was the one standing there like a goldfish. I was so shocked. Maybe I was a little too naïve to think that he would pass the opportunity to kiss me in the lips. After all, I was teasing him all throughout our date. I shook my head a little to clear my head.

'This is normal,' I said to myself. I shouldn't be thinking of such dangerous thoughts, I really shouldn't.

But I can't help to be dazed by the kiss as I rode the train home.

_I'll never let my guard down around him. Never again. _

**End of Chapter

* * *

**

**Author's Notes:**

If you reached this part of the story, thank you for reading! Please remember to click that little button by the lower-left corner to review. I'm looking forward to know what you think of it!

Yes, Lily was a little OOC, but she was in actress mode, so it really wasn't Lily who is doing all of those OOC things. Am I making sense? Well, whatever. –smile—

Please review! All those who had this story in their story alerts, please review. I plan to reach 48 reviews, so please help me! I want to attract readers who look at the number of reviews first before reading it—this I'm guilty of, I admit. Even an 'I liked/loved it!' would be fine. I write faster if I get more reviews.

Thanks Mia for beta-ing this chapter!

Thanks for reading!


	5. The Family Dinner Part 1

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k? Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 5: The Family Dinner - Part 1**

It was just the weekday after our date, and I was currently in math class, listening to my teacher discussing geometry.

"_The length of the altitude of a right triangle to the hypotenuse is the geometric mean of the segments in the hypotenuse..."_ she said, and drew a figure on the blackboard.

It was just a review of last year's lesson, and since I was one of the intelligent people in this class, it was okay for me not to listen, so I let my mind wander on random things. Of course, I still looked like the teacher had my full attention. This was quite a normal occurrence in school.

Inevitably, I thought about my assignment, the recent date, and _the kiss_. Yes, it deserved to be italicized because it had a big impact on me, even if I didn't want it to. I was dazed for the whole trip home! That was the first time it happened. I was getting a lot of firsts here, if you noticed.

And if you were wondering about the date, well, it was a total success. Of course, it was expected that everything had gone well, but the satisfaction of executing the act perfectly was definitely still there. It was the talk of the whole school. The moment James and his friends entered the classroom, I heard his entourage of girls gossiping about his 'mysterious girlfriend' that he was with last weekend. And I guessed that James had told his friends beforehand because they weren't surprised at all by those rumors. It was either that, or they were all good actors, waiting for the right time to question him.

It was amusing how every girl resented this 'mystery woman.' Of course, they didn't know anything about her, and that fact only added fuel to fire. _Who was she? Where did James meet her? And why was he keeping her a secret?_

I inwardly answered those questions, thinking to myself how absurd their reaction was. First, she was Lily Evangelista; second, they met at a wedding; and lastly, he was keeping it a secret because she's a fake girlfriend. Surprise, surprise. Honestly, he wasn't hiding the fact that he had one; it was just that he didn't say it. There was a difference. He didn't need to tell every aspect of his life, and these girls—the ones gossiping about it—thought they had the right to know _everything_. They were the members of the James Potter fan club.

In the corner of my eyes, I looked at the person in question. I was situated in the corner of the classroom by the windows—people sitting here were usually ignored—and we were in the same row. He was sitting with the Marauders, as usual. They—except Remus since he was busy with his laptop—were passing notes, but they looked like they were paying attention to the teacher. I had to hand it to them; they still did this even though they knew that this teacher was not a person to cross. It was amazing they weren't caught, but what could you expect from experienced troublemakers?

My 'mind wandering,' as I liked to call it, was interrupted when I felt something vibrate in my pocket. It was my mobile phone, and judging from the duration of the vibration, it wasn't just a text message but a call.

My amazing powers of deductive reasoning told me that this wasn't Ryan but someone else. Only Ryan and my current clients knew my number, and obviously James wasn't calling me because I see him here in class passing notes and not having his mobile phone in his hands; therefore, he was not the one calling. I made sure that my former clients erase my number after the assignment was done, and instead, I gave Ryan's number just in case they wanted to hire me again. Definitely it wasn't some former client, so that left Ryan, but he knew better than to call me during class hours. I even lectured him about it one time, saying that it might cause trouble for me, and of course, he didn't want that.

Well, in any case, I needed to answer the call immediately, as in _right now_, before he or she ends the call.

I raised my hand, forming an 'L' with my fingers. It was a signal for asking permission to go to the lavatory. My teacher looked at me, and she nodded just a little, acknowledging my need to 'go'. As quietly as possible as to not disturb class or to draw attention, I stood up from my seat and immediately went outside. Luckily, no one noticed me as I walked out of the classroom.

I actually didn't go to the lavatory, but inside the old music room that was near my supposed destination. The school had just moved the music rooms in another floor this year, so this one was kind of abandoned. There might be girls inside the lavatory, so I decided not to risk it.

I pulled out my mobile phone from my pocket and checked who was calling. I was puzzled to see that the number wasn't registered in my phone book. Did my number somehow leaked out? I answered the phone immediately.

"Hello?" I said unsurely. I didn't know who this was, after all.

"Hello, Lily?" A woman's voice was heard through the mobile phone.

"Yes?" I answered.

"It's me, Elizabeth," she said in an amicable tone.

"Elizabeth?" I said, a little dubious. I was definitely surprised since I hadn't given her my number yet. But of course, my amazing powers of deductive reasoning told me that James gave it to her. He was the only one who knew it right now, except for Ryan.

"Yes dear, I got your number from James," she said. See, I told you I was right.

"Not to be rude, but I'm kind of in the middle of class here," I said, trying to say indirectly that this call needed to be quick.

"Sorry about the inconvenience. I'll get straight to the point then. I'm inviting you over for dinner tonight, to meet with James' father. He also knows of your assignment and wants to see you. I hope you don't mind," she said.

"I don't mind. I accept your invitation, and thank you for inviting me,"

"Thank you for accepting. This will be the perfect opportunity to brief us about the things we need to know and to report your progress so far. I've yet to get details from James about your date," she said suggestively.

"I'd be happy to tell you every detail," I said, and then I laughed. It sounded a little fake though, but she didn't notice. If I knew what was good for me, I wouldn't agree, but she was a client, and she had the right to know what happened. It was not like I had something to hide, but I felt uneasy telling her. I didn't know why exactly, but that fact added to my unease.

"I need to go. I still have classes, after all," I said. I noticed that I was gone too long for just a lavatory break, so I needed to end the call. The teacher might get suspicious.

"Oh, yes, I forgot about that. We'll just talk later, and I'll send a text message of the address. Well then, see you tonight."

"Yes, see you," I said, and then I hung up. The second the call ended, I quickly went out of the old music room to go back to the classroom. I hoped that the teacher didn't notice how long I was gone. Like the goody-two-shoes that I am, I didn't want to get in trouble.

Thankfully, I wasn't noticed when I slipped back inside the classroom. The teacher was already finished with the review and was discussing our new lesson. I sat on my seat and took out my math notebook. There was one last stray thought that passed through my mind before I completely focused on the lesson.

_'I hope James won't do anything in front of his parents. I really hope so.'_

* * *

It was late afternoon, and I was inside a taxi, on my way to the Potter's mansion. I was actually kind of nervous about this whole family dinner thing. I mean, who wouldn't be nervous to meet the _president and owner _of _Potter International, Inc._, one of the leading companies of the sales industry in the world? Even normal people would get intimidated by such a person. 

I was trying to calm myself by looking out through the car window. The passing scenery seemed to help me calm down, and soon, I was lost in thought. I always got jittery in times like this, but I was used to it. I usually meet with high ranked people—my clients—but this person seemed the highest out of all of them, so it was really natural to feel like this.

"Miss?" the taxi driver said, but I didn't hear him. I looked like I was in my own world, just staring outside.

"Miss?" he repeated a little louder. This time I heard it, and I leapt a little in my seat in my surprise.

"Yes?" I asked.

"We're here," he said gruffly. Even though I was looking out through the car window, I didn't notice that we had stopped and that we had arrived to my destination. I felt embarrassed; I was too lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice my surroundings. I must've looked stupid.

"Sorry about that," I said sheepishly. I paid the fare and stepped out of the taxi. I still hadn't looked up since I was still checking on my things, seeing if I'd forgotten anything inside the taxi, but when I did look, I was greeted by the sight of the biggest and most beautiful mansion I had ever seen. I should've expected this since they were rich—one of the richest in society—but I was still at awe at the sheer size and beauty of it.

"Good evening, Miss Evangelista. The madam is expecting you." A monotonous voice suddenly spoke from a seemingly invisible speaker which I just probably didn't know where it was located. A maid opened the gate and let me inside the vast estate. I walked from the gate to the front door, looking at lush gardens as I passed them. It was a terribly big piece of land, and the door was awfully far from the gate.

I finally reached my destination and made a move to at least knock when it was suddenly opened by the butler this time. Okay, this mansion definitely had security cameras everywhere that watched my every move. It was either that, or these helpers were psychic, which I highly doubt.

"Good evening," he said, and then bowed a little in respect. "The madam is right this way." He stepped aside so that I could come inside and led the way to probably where Elizabeth was. The moment he stepped away from my view, I was struck again by awe. If the outside of the house was beautiful, the inside of the house was just _gorgeous_. There was no other way to describe it, this house was by far the most beautiful mansion I'd ever seen, and I tell you, I'd seen a lot because of my job.

I followed him as he walked through the main hall. I was like a tourist in a different country, being interested in everything I saw as we passed them—the paintings, the interior design, and the sparkling chandelier on the high ceiling that I believed was made out of real diamonds which shined when it was hit by light. I had no doubt that everything I saw was definitely more expensive than my apartment and all my things in it combined.

Call this fascination of mine a curiosity. I had always been a curious child.

We arrived in front of a door which I assumed Elizabeth was in. He opened the door first and announced my presence.

"Madam, Miss Lily is here," he said.

"Let her in," a female voice answered him. Now, I was sure that it was she who was in the room. The butler stepped aside and walked away, and for some reason, I felt nervous facing her inside the room. Maybe it was because I didn't know what was going to happen. You could never know with Elizabeth.

I stepped inside the room to see her sitting on one of the couches and reading a book with her reading glasses on. I guessed we were in the living room. There was a sofa which she was sitting on, a loveseat, and some couches. There was also a small table in the middle and some candles and decors on top of it. It was an extravagant room with a fireplace on one side of the wall opposite the sofa, beautiful paintings hung of the wall, and another chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling.

"Good evening, Lily. Please take a seat," she said as she put down the book and her reading glasses on the table. Following her request, I sat near her on the sofa, looking as professional as I can. She looked at me straight in the eyes. That move made me a little nervous.

"How are you doing with the assignment, Lily? Is there any progress?" she inquired.

"Well, as of now, everything is still according to plan. There are rumors spreading in school that James has a girlfriend. Well, that's step one," I answered her sounding businesslike, and my nervousness slowly faded away. After all, I was doing my job. I had done this plenty of times in the past.

"That's good," she said, nodding. She paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating about something. I didn't know what she was thinking about, and that thought made me a little bit anxious. What if she wasn't satisfied with the way things are right now, even though she agreed with me?

"Don't worry. I trust that you'll be able to handle any situation that comes your way. I was just thinking about something else," she said, as if she read my mind. One thing I noticed about the Potters was that they were very perceptive, bordering on being psychic. James had done that to me a lot of times. "Anyway, James doesn't know you're here. I didn't tell him that I invited you over for dinner, so he'll be surprised to see you," she said, changing the topic.

"He'll definitely be surprised to see me," I agreed with her, the events of our first date coming to my mind. I bet he wasn't expecting to see me so soon after it. I thought wouldn't say anything anymore so I took the time to look away from her and survey the room; I had always been a fan of décor and art, and their rooms had a lot of it. It was too late for me to see the mischievous twinkle that appeared in her eye and her apparent amusement about something. If I had seen that, I would definitely know what she was thinking, and I would try to change the topic right away. It was too bad that I didn't.

"So Lily…" she started. I stopped looking around and focused my attention on her. "How was your date with James?" she said, trying to be nonchalant, but I knew her real purpose.

"It was fine," I said normally, not giving away anything through my voice. As I had said earlier, I wasn't that keen on sharing the details of the date with Elizabeth. "So—"

"Come on Lily, tell me about it," she said, like a nosy mother trying to wheedle out details from her teenage daughter. Since she was my employer, I couldn't exactly refuse her, could I? I tried to think of something to say, and she was looking at me so expectantly. This was the question I had been dreading from her the whole night. There was nothing I could do but to acquiesce to her request.

"Well…" I started to say, and I couldn't help stalling for more time. Luckily, a knock from the door interrupted our conversation, and a maid entered the room.

"Excuse me madam. Dinner is ready," she said, her head slightly bowed. I was grateful for her interruption. It postponed our inevitable conversation about _the date_.

"Thank you, May. We'll be down in a few minutes," Elizabeth said to her, and the maid exited the room. I inwardly let out a relieved sigh. She faced me again with a knowing look. Maybe she knew that I was stalling.

"We'll continue this conversation after dinner," she said, but I hoped that we will never have this conversation at all. I just nodded at her, and we stood up to go to the dining room.

She led the way, of course. I would be lost if I were to be left on my own. We were silent the whole time were walking, and we were by the foot of the stairs when the silence broke because of a male voice that called out to Elizabeth.

"Mom!" he said as a greeting. Obviously, it was James, as he was her only son. I bet he hadn't seen her since he arrived from school. I think he called out to come with us to the dining room. Elizabeth and I stopped walking to wait for him, and I heard footsteps stepping down from the staircase. It was she who first turned around to greet James, and I still stood on the same spot facing away from him.

I slightly turned around to see in the corner of my eye that James kissed Elizabeth on the cheek. He still hadn't noticed me yet, and I took this chance to face him fully and wait for him to see me.

The moment he finally saw me, he stepped back in surprise. "Lily?" he said, unsure. Maybe he thought he was hallucinating. After all, why would I be in their house?

"Hi James," I said, a little fake, and then smiled at him in response to his shocked greeting. He quickly regained his composure and smiled at me back.

"Hi Lily," he said charmingly. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well—" I started to say, but Elizabeth interrupted me.

"James, aren't you going to greet her with a kiss? After all, she's your fiancée," she said, amused. I blushed a little at her 'mild' suggestion. When I saw this infamous, mischievous twinkle in his eyes that all Potters seemed to have, I braced myself for the 'surprise' attack.

"Why not?" he said as his eyes lit up at the idea, and his mouth formed a big grin that promised trouble. Automatically, I put my hands in front of me and stepped back like I was expecting the worst from him. I could definitely hear muffled giggles from Elizabeth in the background. He quickly put his arms on my waist and pulled me to him. Thankfully, my hands stopped me from being too close. He leaned down and paused in front of me. We looked into each other's eyes, defiance clearly seen in mine. I think he just wanted to see my reaction to all of this. He was definitely NOT going to do this in front of his mother. I won't let him!

Eventually, he leaned closer, intending to take a kiss from my lips, but I was fast enough to tilt my head just in time for his lips to touch my cheek. I mentally applauded myself for avoiding such an embarrassing scene. He released me, and I let out a relieved sigh.

I guessed Elizabeth couldn't hold it in as her muffled giggles turned to full-fledged laughter. It was amazing that she still looked elegant laughing like that.

"You remind me of us when we were young, you know," she said as she calmed down a little, but I didn't know who she was talking about. She and her husband, maybe? Well, most probably.

"What's going on here?" a thunderous voice suddenly spoke behind me. I quickly froze up, like I was caught doing something bad, and I turned around to see a very intimidating man in his business attire. I inwardly gulped; this was Henry Potter, the _president and owner of Potter International, Inc._ I had said this before, but I really had to emphasize it now. This person may be the most influential man in the business world. That was definitely intimidating.

I feared I had done something to displease him, so much that I missed that infamous 'Potter twinkle'—you know, the mischievous, I'm-going-do-something twinkle that every member of this family seemed to have—in his eyes. For a moment, everyone was silent, when suddenly Elizabeth broke the silence.

"Honey, don't scare her," she reprimanded him, but I could tell she was amused by her voice. The man who looked so serious and angry a while ago suddenly grinned at me, and I was a little bit surprised at the sudden mood change. I was also surprised at how much James resembled his father when he grinned. It was like he was a younger version of his father except for his eyes which he inherited from his mother.

"Welcome to the real world, dad," James said and got him into a manly hug. Looking at them, I saw a picture of a perfect family—a loving father, a caring mother, and a good son –and I was a little envious about that. It was obvious that they were in good terms with each other, something I never had with my own family—that is if I ever had one, but now was not the time to ponder about it.

After James released his father, he looked at me straight in the eyes and offered his hand for me to shake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Henry Potter. And you are?" he introduced himself. I could only offer my name in response and shook his hand.

"Lily Evangelista, sir," I said, still a little bit intimidated, but I didn't show it. I tried to ease myself by smiling at him, and luckily, he smiled back.

"So you are my lovely 'daughter-to-be'," he said, and I blushed a little at that comment.

"Apparently so, Mr. Potter—"

"Please call me Henry,"

"Okay, Mr. Po—I mean, Henry," I said to him. This was new. I was calling the most influential man by his first name!

"Henry, dear, let's go to the dining room. The food is already served, and we don't the food to get cold," Elizabeth said. "Besides, we haven't left the foot of the stairs!" You know, she was right about that. If you looked at it objectively, it was pretty funny that we were there the whole time. We hadn't moved an inch closer to our destination.

"Let's walk there by pairs. James, you go ahead with Lily. Your father and I will just be behind you," she said. I could do nothing but comply with the request, and I reluctantly looped my arms with James as he offered it to me.

"Right this way, Lily," he said enthusiastically, like he was really happy to be with me, but somehow, I doubted that. I didn't really know why. James led me to the dining room, so I didn't hear Elizabeth's conversation with her husband. If I had, I would definitely wonder on what they were talking about.

"So, how is she?" Elizabeth asked Henry, and then she smiled as if she knew she was right. He grinned in response, like he was approving of her choice.

"She's perfect."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

If you reached this part of the story, thanks you for reading! Please review—especially those who have my story on their story alerts—I'd like to know what you think of it. Please! The last line was intended to be cryptic, and you'll know everything in the later chapters. A little clarification: Lily here is not acting. She's there because they're kind of in a meeting, like a conference of some sort. Therefore, Lily here is NOT in disguise and she's a redhead in this chapter. She has no reason to act in front of her employers so PDA is not necessary; therefore, not wanted. Okiesh? --smile--

I'll write a whole paragraph next chapter in the a/n to clarify some things so that you wouldn't be confused.

I'm sorry if I updated late. I was too busy shopping and buying for gifts this Christmas! Now was the only time to write this chapter. I also had a writer's block, kind of. For a time, I just stared at the computer monitor wondering what to write or how to write it. I already had an idea on what this chapter is all about, but I didn't know how to put it in words.

The next chapter will still be about the family dinner. It's kind of a filler chapter, but I'll try to make it more entertaining. This one is also a filler chapter, but even if it is, please still review! I don't know when I'll be able to update next, but I'll try to make it fast. I think I'll write faster if I get more reviews, don't you think? Haha!

I've pestered you so much already to review. Don't let my efforts go to waste. Haha! I have 44 people who put this in their story alerts. I hope at least half of them would review. Please help me get at least 15 for this chapter. Please! Let's hit 71, guys! Please? --puppy dog eyes and pout--

Thanks for Mia for beta-ing this chapter! It's now fixed! Yahoo! --smile--

Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays!

Review! --big grin--


	6. The Family Dinner Part 2

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k? Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 6: The Family Dinner – Part 2**

James and I were walking ahead of Elizabeth and Henry, and we were just talking casually, like friends. I guessed we sort of agreed to an unspoken truce for the night. That was what I thought, anyway.

"So, what did you talk about with my mother?" he asked as we walked to the dining room.

"I just reported to your mother about the progress of the assignment," I answered, leaving out that she also asked me about our date. He didn't need to know that little tidbit of our conversation.

"Really?" he said, as if knowing I was hiding something from him. Was I that transparent or this family had something akin to psychic powers in their gene pool? "That was all you talked about?"

"Yes," I said normally. He wouldn't get anything from me; he was dealing with a professional actress! But what I found irritating when I looked at him was that he had a look in eyes that said—no, practically screamed—'you're hiding something!' Honestly, he wasn't mocking me or accusing me, but he had pure amusement written all over his face. That was what I found _very_ annoying.

It was pretty much silent after that, but it wasn't long before we reached our destination. I felt glad about that; there was something about being alone with James that made me feel uneasy and conscious about myself, and I definitely didn't like that feeling.

We entered the dining room with his parents in tow. I wasn't surprised that even this part of the house—scratch that, this was a mansion—was extravagant. There was a beautiful centerpiece in the middle of the table, and all furnishings were made of polished wood that was definitely expensive. Oh how I envy the lives of the rich people! I had yet to be one.

I made a move to go a chair but a tug from my left arm stopped me from doing so. My arm was still looped around his, and I didn't actually notice it for the whole time we were walking. And for some reason I didn't know, I blushed a little at this realization. I think he felt me tug at his arm because he led me to my seat, and like a true gentleman, he pulled out the chair for me. I sat down and gave him a grateful smile. He sat down right next to me.

I looked around for Elizabeth and Henry to see the latter do the same for the former. I was pretty much able to guess that men from the elite society were taught in etiquette and manners. Well, I was honestly glad for that because otherwise, I may have been a lot more infuriated by James than I already was.

Henry whispered something in her ear, and Elizabeth giggled softly in response. He sat down beside and never once letting go of her hand. They were so sweet to each other that they were so endearing to look at. How could James and I remind Elizabeth of her and her husband? We weren't that affectionate, even in acting.

"You know, I'm lucky to have parents who are still as in love with each other as they were on their wedding day," he suddenly whispered to my ear. He was so close to my face that I felt his breath on my cheek, and shivers ran down my spine because of his closeness. Goodness, why was I feeling like this? But just as sudden as I felt these tingles, I felt it all go away at the image of a perfect couple in my line of vision. I wasn't envious of them. Oh no, definitely not, but they had love unlike my parents.

"Yes James, you're pretty lucky," I also whispered to him, a little distracted. I was thinking about my own family situation, and it was nowhere near as perfect as what I'd seen since earlier this night. I inwardly berated myself. This was definitely not the time to be sentimental about something I'd been used to for practically my entire life.

I think James sensed my discomfort as he coughed out loud to get attention from his parents. It did the trick as they were pulled out of their romantic mood and finally noticed us.

"Oh sorry," Elizabeth apologized and laughed it off. I admired her poise and grace as she seemed not to be embarrassed about their untimely PDA.

"Well then, let's eat," Henry said, and we began to get food from the table. The food prepared before us looked simply delicious, and we couldn't wait to taste it. We started dinner not yet talking because everyone was hungry. It was pretty funny how much food James had in his plate—it was really full. I understood he was a growing boy, but there was so much food. How could someone who has a lean and fit body like him eat a lot of food? It amazed me to no end, really. I was grateful that he didn't eat like a pig; otherwise, it would be a big turn off.

As we began to feel not so hungry anymore, we started conversing over the dinner table.

"So Lily, what brings you our humble abode?" James asked as he ate his second serving of food.

"James, you shouldn't be rude to our guest. Aren't you glad she's here with us right now?" Elizabeth suddenly said, teasing him with a small smile on her face. It was amusing to see James blush a little at his embarrassment. I bet only his mother could make him do that.

"Of course I am. I was just asking why she's here, that's all. I could've greeted her the moment she came," he said, trying to feign nonchalance, but she wasn't letting him off the hook.

"That's so sweet of you to do that for _your fiancé_, James," she said, stressing the last part. James couldn't reply to what his mother had just said. It was clear that she was teasing him, but he couldn't just talk back to his own mother, could he? I gave him an amused smile and a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't know you were so eager to see me, James. Maybe I should've given you a text message that I'll be going at your house for dinner," I said, trying to suppress a laugh.

"So, you didn't answer my original question, Lily? What brings you here?" he said, obviously wanting to change the subject at hand and ignoring what I had just said. Since he had gone through 'torture' already, I decided not tease him further. I wasn't familiar with his habits, so I didn't know how much of it he could take. Honestly, I thought he could handle more blows, but I didn't want to take any chances so I just answered him straightforwardly.

"Actually, I was invited by your mother to eat dinner here just this morning. I think she needed to talk to me about the assignment," I said, leaving out that she wanted details about our first date. I didn't know if I was glad or sad that he didn't say anything about it to his mother—sad because she would be pestering me about it, or glad because she still didn't know what happened. Talk about mixed feelings.

"What did you talk about?" he asked, obviously curious, just like the proverbial cat.

"The assignment," I said cryptically. I had already said it, hadn't I? I didn't like to repeat myself.

"That's all? Are you sure? Is that worth coming over here?" he continued to ask. I was beginning to get irritated by his string of questions. He didn't need to know every single detail of why I was here. He wasn't my employer, for goodness sake. He was just my partner for this assignment. I was glad that Elizabeth spoke up to restrain James from asking further questions because otherwise, I would've probably snapped at him, and I didn't want to do that in front of his parents. She did it in a subtle way that I admired her for her knowledge in dealing with her own son.

"James!" she scolded him. The way was so simple, but it did the trick as he quickly became defensive. Maybe this was a normal occurrence in the Potter household. I inwardly smiled at that thought. I thought it was funny that his mother was always keeping him in line.

"Not that I don't want you here or anything. I was just asking, that's all," he quickly said, trying to save himself from further embarrassment. That and he was trying to prevent himself from being scolded again by his mother. It was really amusing how he was still under her, and I was suppressing my giggles just watching the scene.

"You're being nosy, James. You're mother invited her for dinner to meet me. After all, she needs to know her future in-laws," Henry said, and Elizabeth was silently beaming at her husband for he had taken her side, so to speak.

"You don't fool me, dad. You just wanted to meet her," James quipped, and then he wagged his eyebrows like he was right about his assumption. Henry snapped his fingers as if his true intention was found out.

"Of course! I need to know what my future daughter-in-law looks like," he joked, and then he laughed heartily. "And I have to say, she's beautiful," he continued.

"She is, isn't she?" James said fondly, looking at me with an admiring gaze. Now, who wouldn't blush at those comments? I certainly did, and I looked down so that they couldn't see my beet red face. This was definitely embarrassing. Sure, there were plenty of times where people called me beautiful, but this is the first time someone said I was beautiful when I was NOT in disguise. I always thought I was plain looking even though I had unique features.

"You guys are making her blush. Isn't she adorable?" Elizabeth cooed at me and laughed, adding to my embarrassment.

"It's nice to know you still have honest reactions even if you're a professional private actress—and a good one, at that," James said to me as he saw how red my face was. I breathed deeply to calm myself. After a few moments, I was able to collect myself and to regain my composure, and the redness on my cheeks started to fade away.

"Thank you," I said, really meaning it. It wasn't everyday that I got compliments from the probably the most elite family in the hierarchical society. That in itself was flattering enough, but honestly, I still thought I looked plain. Therefore, I should treasure these moments when somebody actually say something positive about me.

"It's the truth," he replied, looking at me fondly which I found slightly strange, but I didn't delve deeper into it. It was possible that I was overanalyzing things.

By this time, everyone was finished eating and was just talking and conversing over the dinner table. We talked about anything under the sun, but eventually, the topic had become focused on my career. After all, it was a very interesting job, not to mention that only a few people know about it. Unexpectedly—or maybe expected since he was the one I still hadn't talked to about this whole thing—Henry introduced that topic to our conversation.

"Lily," he started to say, and his face turned to me. Judging by the curiosity in his voice, he was going to ask me about my job. Turned out I was right. "How many years have you been a PA?"

"Roughly four years, sir," I replied politely. I wondered if he would remind me to use his first name, but he didn't. I guess he would let it slip this time around.

"You've been in the business for a long while," he commented. Actually, I was very proud of that fact. I mean, I started earning money when I was just starting my teenage years, not because I needed the money—though that was partly true—but because I was recruited for this job for my talent in acting. People actually recognized that I was good in what I love to do.

"Of course I would hire an experienced PA. After all, it would affect all of us if there was a slip-up. I, for one, do not want to do damage control," Elizabeth said.

"Too true," Henry said thoughtfully and nodded. I guess for people with their stature, it was important to maintain credibility among their peers. He continued to speak. "Actually, I'm quite curious as how you became one. I'm pretty sure you haven't heard of it before it was offered to you."

"Yeah, me too," James said, voicing out his thoughts. Of course, he was curious since I hadn't discussed this with him before—or with anyone, for that matter. That was the exact same reason why I was hesitant to actually tell the whole story. Honestly, this was a first time someone asked me about it. Most of my clients didn't care about those details in my life.

"Well…" I started to say, but I trailed off in the end. All of them were looking expectantly at me, and I felt that I couldn't refuse them. I didn't want to disappoint them so I gathered my wits and told my story even though I felt a little embarrassed about it.

"You see, I had a strange habit before being a PA. Because of my love for acting, I always tried out in every audition that I could be in. You see, every time I was chosen—which I was, most of the time—I would refuse the role," I said. Now that I think about it, it sounded crazy. There was a breach in logic, and James commented about that.

"But why? I mean, at that time, wouldn't you prefer to be a stage actress?" he asked. I froze at the question because I couldn't tell them the reason. There was a pause as they waited for my reply.

"It's a personal reason. I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you why I did that," I said, a little apologetic. On the outside, I looked fine and a little bit sorry, but on the inside, I felt a little indignant because yet again, I was reminded that I couldn't be more than just a PA.

Well, don't you think I didn't know that fact? I love acting but I can't be known for it because I had to be hidden from the media's eyes. It would only be a matter of time when they discover I'm the daughter of Rose. I wouldn't want to be a cause of scandal for my own mother, plus, I wouldn't want my name to appear in tabloids. As much as I want to accept the offers, I couldn't. It was very frustrating.

"It's okay. You're not allowed to reveal personal information, right?" Elizabeth said. I was thankful for her saying it. Not only she informed Henry about the ground rule, but she also eased me from my discomfort.

"Yes," I replied gratefully. Elizabeth was a life saver.

"I see," Henry said, contemplative. I felt a little nervous at his tone. I didn't know how to interpret it. Was he displeased? I hoped not. "Well then, continue on with your story." I just nodded, took his tone as a good sign and proceeded to tell them the rest of my story.

"After I declined another offer in one of the auditions, someone from the set approached me. I thought he was going to persuade me to accept the job, so I walked quickly away, hoping that he wouldn't catch up to me.

At first, he asked me why I turned down the offer. Turns out that he was in every audition I'd tried out to, and he was always left confused every time I declined. I told him that I didn't want to appear in some show or film, and he was puzzled yet again by my answer since it was obvious for him that I loved acting.

He mentioned to me a job—a private actress—that 'met all my wants' and gave me his calling card. He said that if I was interested to earn money by acting and still not appear in public, I should give him a call. He really was a blessing in disguise. I called him within the week, and the rest is history," I said, finishing my short story. Admittedly, I kind of rushed through the whole story, but that was, at least, the gist of what had happened.

I looked at their faces, especially James, to see their reaction to my so-called crazy story. All of them looked thoughtful, and there was nobody speaking to each other. Honestly, the silence made me feel uncomfortable. I was waiting for them to comment or to question more about it, but I guess that wasn't happening anytime soon, judging by their faces. Elizabeth, being perceptive as she is, noticed my clear feelings about being in this situation and tried to make me feel at ease again, but James beat her to it by breaking the silence.

"Wow Lily, I don't even know what to say," he said, astonished. I didn't blame him; it was an unbelievable story.

"That was definitely interesting. I'm still very curious about your personal reason though," Henry teased. I only looked away and gave a weak laugh in response. Just thinking about it made me feel a little bit frustrated.

"You know what, let's continue this in the living room so that the maids could clean this up," she said, referring to our used plates. I guess she was trying to change the subject, and with it, change also the place. Well, I was glad for it since I didn't know how to handle comments from the father-son pair, plus, it would be better if we talked in a more comfortable place.

"And Lily," Elizabeth continued to speak and faced me. "We'll start discussing about the assignment, so if you have something to prepare, then please get ready." I just nodded.

"May I be excused? I need to change my clothes," I said. Hearing this, Henry and James looked confused, but I think Elizabeth realized what I planned to do. She gave me permission, and I stood up, walked out of the dining room with my messenger bag—which never left my side even when we were having dinner—slung over my shoulder. My disguise was inside it, along with other essentials for this assignment.

I wasn't that far from the dining room when I stopped in my tracks and smacked myself in the face as I realized something important. Shoot, I didn't know where the bathroom was! I would probably be lost if I attempted to find it on my own in this big mansion. I was alone in this hallway, and there were no helpers in sight. The only option I had was to go back to the dining room and ask someone there to lead the way.

I returned to the room and saw them already standing up. They were talking about something, but from the distance I was at, I couldn't hear what they were talking about. At any case, I needed to get their attention, so I knocked on the wall beside me and waited for someone to hear it. It was Elizabeth who heard it.

"Lily?" she asked, confused as to why I was still in the dining room. The other two—Henry and James—turned to me with questioning eyes, silently asking me the same thing. Was I walking into a private conversation? It seemed that I had interrupted something. "I thought you were getting ready?" she continued.

"Well," I started to say, and then looked away as my face turned red. "I didn't know where the bathroom was." The only thing missing in this picture was me scratching the back of my head in embarrassment, but of course, I didn't do that.

For a moment, there was silence, and they looked like they didn't know how to react. Then, like a switch, everyone was laughing, including me and it echoed all throughout the relatively small dining room.

* * *

"So, why did you need to go to the bathroom?" asked the person who was leading me to my destination.

Of course, they sent James to lead me there. It was a given, and it was one of the reasons why I was reluctant to go back in the room to ask for help. Being in his presence annoyed me for some reason, and underlying that annoyance was a tinge of nervousness and a little of anticipation. Of what, I didn't know.

"I need to change to my disguise—" I stared to say, but he interrupted me.

"Whatever for?" he asked, confused. Goodness, was this man always this rude? And hadn't he figured it out already? I thought he was smart, or maybe he was just playing dumb. I didn't know, but I decided to humor him.

"If you let me finish," I pointedly looked at him. "I thought this would be a good time to show it to them so that they wouldn't be surprised when a brunette, and not a redhead, clings on to you during events," I said, a little bit sarcastic. He definitely brought out the worst side of me, and for the life of me, I didn't know why.

"Really? You'll be clinging on to me?" he replied in delight. What was going through his mind? His answer made me more infuriated than I already was.

"You're completely missing the point!" I said, exasperated by his behavior. I walked faster, as if I was trying to get away from him. Honestly, that was exactly what I was doing. But what I didn't notice was that he stopped walking beside a door, and since I didn't know that he stopped, I kept on going, wondering where the heck the bathroom was. I even doubted that he was leading me to the right direction.

"Hey Lily!" he shouted to get my attention. Well, it did, and it was because I noticed that he wasn't as near me as I'd hoped. I thought he would be following me since he was my 'guide'.

"What?" I shouted. I turned around to face him, and I was irritated that he was just standing there. Wait, he was standing right next to a door. Don't tell me that's—

"The bathroom is here," he said, grinning and pointing to the door next to him. I bet he was laughing inside; his eyes were filled of mirth, and it had the Potter twinkle. I turned red in the face, not only from embarrassment, but also a little bit from anger. I didn't want anyone to be laughing at me. Who would?

I went up to him, looked at him in the eye and gave him a glare. "Don't laugh at me." I said menacingly. My eyes were narrowed, and my index finger was poking his chest.

"I'm not!" he said defensively as he backed up, and he put his hands up as if he was innocent. Yeah, right. I didn't believe that for a second. I gave him an annoyed look because it was obvious he found it funny. With that, I left him and went through the door where the bathroom supposedly was, closing the door not too gently.

When I looked at myself at the mirror inside, I felt displeased with myself. I knew I kind of overreacted a bit, but my feelings just go haywire when he was around. I couldn't control myself from snapping at him. And you know what was more frustrating? I didn't know where this was coming from! Why was it that this happens only with him?

I felt my irritation and annoyance fade away as I put on my disguise and a little bit of make up. I even felt proud when I looked at my reflection on the mirror. Now, I looked like a different person. I was no longer Lily, but James' girlfriend. Hmm, maybe I should give myself another name when I'm in this disguise. Now that was something to think about, but it would be easy coming up with a name.

With a last look in the mirror to see if everything was in place, I went outside the bathroom to see James leaning on the wall beside me, deep in thought. I wonder what he was thinking about, but I guess it really wasn't my concern. I tapped his shoulder to get his attention, pulling him away from his reverie.

"Come on, let's go. Where's the living room?" I asked calmly. He stood up straight and looked at me, as if he was assessing me, but I think he was checking me out. Well, 'this' girl was his dream girl, wasn't it?

"I'll lead the way," he said after a few moments, and we started walking. It was amazing that we weren't arguing or annoying each other. We weren't even talking, and I felt a little relieved by that. At least, I wouldn't snap at him which I tend to do when he was around. But, out of the blue, he said, "You know, I like you better as a redhead than a brunette," and he continued walking ahead.

"Thanks," I said unsurely. I didn't know what that comment was supposed to mean. Goodness, he was confusing me.

We arrived in front of the door in the living room, and I was filled with anticipation of Henry and Elizabeth's reaction. Actually, I expected them to be surprised by the change because I really did look like a different person, but I was still in the same clothes. This was one of the thrills about the disguise that I was talking about early on. It was seeing the reactions of your clients and feeling the satisfaction of their genuine awe.

James turned the door knob and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Of course I am," I replied confidently. This was one of the best parts in any assignment other than the acting itself.

He opened the door, and I saw Henry and Elizabeth talking to each other in soft tones. They stopped talking entirely when they heard us come in. Now that made me a little suspicious, but I had no business knowing anything other than what was needed for the job. When they faced us—or specifically me—they both looked stunned, as I expected. See, wasn't it satisfying?

"Is that Lily beside you, James?" Henry asked his son. Even though I only put on a wig and contacts, make up still did wonders into making me into a new person. Well, this was what a disguise was designed to do, right? I shouldn't be recognized under any circumstance.

"Believe it or not, she is," James said. I remembered our first date when he didn't realize I was Lily when I met him at the park. "She looks very different, doesn't she?" Maybe this was the time I should take a part in this conversation.

"Well, I asked James to describe his dream girl so that I could look the part. This will be my disguise every time I go out with him, including dates and events," I informed them.

"Lily, you look like a completely different person. The disguise is brilliant!" Elizabeth commented for the first time and beamed at me.

"Okay, that's enough. We know she looks different, but we prefer the redhead over the brunette. So please, let's start talking about the assignment," James said, seemingly speaking for all of them. With that, I was brought back down to earth and into the business at hand. Even though I was a little bit irritated that James interrupted, I was grateful for him. I didn't let that show though.

"Don't be impatient, son," Henry said to him, and we settled down on their comfortable sofas and chairs. I shifted into business mode and got my pen and my notebook which contained all the details I needed to discuss with them in this 'meeting'. I started to speak.

"I already planned the things I would inform you tonight so that we wouldn't waste time. So, let's start?" I asked to the three of them. They just nodded in response, so I continued.

"Let's start with the basics. I decided to use a different name when I'm on the job, and I already picked out one earlier. So please call me Kate in public," I said informatively. Having a new name reduced the chances of someone recognizing me, even though it was unlikely to happen. Henry and Elizabeth took this in, but James seemed distressed by this piece of information. I decided to comment on it.

"James, you have something on your mind?" I asked him directly.

"Well," he said, and then he paused for just a second. "It's just that I already told my friends that my girlfriend's name was Lily. I didn't know you planned to change your name," he continued. Well, he made things a little bit complicated, but it was alright. The damage was done anyway, so I couldn't do anything about it.

"It's no problem. 'Lily' could be my second name. I would be 'Kate Lily Sanders'." The latter part was directed to all of them. "You guys are free to suggest a different surname, but this was the one I came up with."

"That would be fine, I think," Elizabeth said, and Henry nodded in agreement. I heard James sigh in relief. Maybe because he didn't have to totally lie to his friends, I guess.

"Just tell them that you're the only one allowed to call me that. It will be a nickname of sorts. Not only it will add mystery to your new girlfriend, but it will also add credibility in this whole situation," I said to James. Every little thing was calculated, and there should be no mistakes or slip-ups.

"But how will that add to the credibility?" James wondered.

"James, you don't call your girlfriends with a special nickname or a name that only you could use," I said matter-of-factly. It was common knowledge around the school. Actually, there were only a few people who did that, and when they did, it usually meant that the person was important, or at the least, different from the others in the past.

"How would you know that?" he said, suspicious of me. Well, let's just say I had my sources. I need to keep him in the dark about that; otherwise, he might find out that I went to the same school.

"That's a secret. Moving on—"

"Wait!—" he interrupted me. I knew what he wanted to ask me about it, but that matter had to wait. Actually, it was better to not actually dwell on that subject further than it was supposed to.

"This assignment is more important than that question—" I said, and this time, it was I who interrupted him. I guess he gave up for now as there was a pause in our conversation.

"Moving on," I said, stressing it. "I have already created a story as to how we've met and why we are engaged."

"But why would we need to know that?" Elizabeth asked. Finally, someone other than James participated in the 'meeting'.

"It's because you and Henry were the cause of engagement in the first place. Plus, you need to know every detail for consistency of our stories," I answered her question. "Actually, it's mostly because of you." This comment made some eyebrows rise.

"I still need some information from you to make it plausible, but this is what I've came up with," I said, and then paused, taking a deep breath and looking at everyone. Another story was about to be told. I started to speak.

"Let's say that Elizabeth and my 'mother' met somewhere and became best friends, and just like all BFFs do, they imagine their children marrying each other. Surely, that was only joke, but when my 'mother' was an inch from death by sickness, she told me and Elizabeth—those who were present on her deathbed—that she wished that her daughter and her best friend's son—me and James—marry.

Of course, it came as a shock to us because it was unexpected and totally out of the blue—which was very characteristic of my 'mother'. Anyway, we couldn't just ignore her wish so you—Elizabeth—set us up in a blind date which we both agreed to. One thing led to another and we were 'exclusively dating', so to speak. Right now, we are engaged, but nothing is final yet." I finally finished the story, and then paused to let it all sink in their heads. It still had a few holes, but at least we had something to work on. "Do you want to change anything?"

"Nothing, but I suppose you couldn't just say we met somewhere, could you?" Elizabeth replied. I also thought of that, but I didn't know enough about them to actually say a definite time and place.

"That's where you come in," I said, giving them a smile. "When in your life did you have an opportunity to meet someone? And when I say you, then I mean ONLY you." At this, Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed, searching for a memory that might help. After a few seconds, she snapped her fingers as she finally found one that would do for this situation.

"There was a time in my life that I was home schooled, taught by a private tutor. Let's just say your 'mother' and I were taught by him together in my house. That would be perfect, right?" she said excitedly.

"Yes, definitely," I said and wrote it down on my notebook. In a businesslike voice, I said, "The story is subjected to change when the situation calls for it. If that is the case, let everyone know immediately."

"Of course," Henry said for the first time in this conversation. I only nodded in response.

"Well, that's basically what I've got to report right now. After all, we are only just at the beginning of the assignment," I said to them. Finally, we were done. I looked at the watch on my wrist to see that it was getting late. Oh no, it was difficult for me to get a taxi this late and in this side of the town.

"Then everything's going smoothly," Elizabeth said, satisfied of the things we had discussed tonight. Since we already accomplished all we had planned for the night, we began to do our own thing. I was writing on my notebook, updating my notes for the assignment. Elizabeth, after commenting, went to Henry on the couch, and they were cuddling. James was in his own seat, deep in thought again. We didn't really notice it was silent as we were too absorbed in what we were doing.

So when someone knocked on the door—and loudly, may I add—we were all a little bit startled. "Come in," Elizabeth said, and a maid walked right in.

"Excuse me madam, would you like coffee or tea?" she asked.

"Wonderful timing, Rose," Elizabeth said, delighted. "I'll have tea please,"

"Coffee," Henry said briefly.

"Coffee please," James said.

"I'm not having anything. I'll be leaving in short while," I said, not only to the maid, but to everyone else present in the room. It was getting pretty late, and my business here was done. There was no longer a reason to stay any longer. The Potter family all looked shocked by what I had just said. Well, it was kind of abrupt of me to tell them that I plan on leaving soon. The maid nodded, bowed to us, and left the room to get their beverages.

As soon as the maid went out the door, Elizabeth said, "Couldn't you stay longer? We haven't talked about _it_ yet." I knew what she was referring to—the date. Well, it was a discussion I'd rather put on hold for the moment.

"It's getting late, and I've done what I needed to do. As much as I would have liked to stay, I need to go home," I replied.

"We've got a lot of guest rooms. You could stay in for the night," Henry offered. It was nice of him to say that, but I preferred going home. I needed to be strictly professional about the whole thing. I told to them my sentiments.

"That wouldn't be necessary, but thank you for the offer, Henry," I said, grateful. I couldn't let them know the real reason, could I? I would definitely appear rude and unpleasant.

"Then at least let us call a taxi for you. We know that it's hard to get one this late and in this part of the town," Elizabeth said, understanding my situation. She gave a pointed look to James, silently ordering him to get one for me. James got the message and left the room to take care of it. He returned after a few minutes.

"There's one coming right now," he said, reporting. He continued to speak, "But he could wait. A big tip will be enough compensation for waiting. Join us for coffee, Lily."

I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get me stay longer, obviously, but I didn't want to. Elizabeth already understood that, why couldn't he? It made me a little irritated, but I didn't show it in my face.

"That was fast," I commented. "Then I must already prepare my things. I wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

"But I said it's alright for him to wait," James said a little heatedly. From the way he was talking, I think he was picking a fight with me. A little of my control snapped.

"But _I _don't want him to wait," I said, stressing the 'I', indicating that it was my decision whether I wanted the taxi to wait or not. He wasn't the boss of me. From the corner of eye, I saw Henry and Elizabeth listening intently to our argument. What was amazing was that they had smiles on their faces, as if they were happy we were fighting. Talk about weird.

"If you're going now, then I shouldn't have called a taxi earlier. That way you could stay," he said, raising his voice a bit.

"But you did," I said with a final tone. "Why do you even want me to stay when all we do is either annoy or argue with each other?"

That comment shut him up, and he suddenly looked away as if he was embarrassed. That move made me curious, but I didn't even want to know the reason behind it. Contradicting myself, wasn't I? There was a silence between the two of us.

Finally, our audience decided to intervene as Elizabeth coughed to get our attention. Maybe it was to break the awkward silence hanging in the air.

"James, it's alright. Don't force her to stay if she doesn't want to," she said. I felt a little bit guilty at her statement, but I pushed the feeling down.

"Thank you, Elizabeth, for knocking some sense to him," I said gratefully and gave out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and in came the maid holding a tray with their drinks. She put them down on the coffee table, and then returned by the door. Before bowing, she said, "Excuse me madam, there is a taxi waiting outside. What should I tell him?" That was probably my ride.

"Tell him that his passenger will be there shortly. Thank you, you may go," Elizabeth said to the maid. After the maid left, she stood up and kindly said, "As much as we don't want you to go, Lily, we—or rather, James—will escort you to the taxi. You car ride is waiting."

Now, I felt guilty about leaving, but I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't want to get attached, but somehow, I already was. Both Henry and Elizabeth came up to me. The latter gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, "We aren't finished yet with _that_ conversation, Lily." As she pulled away, she said to her, "Please do be careful on your way home. And before I forget, there will be an event coming up soon. I'll inform James so that he could tell you the details himself." I only nodded in response.

"It was nice meeting you, Lily. It would be great if you'll be my daughter-in-law for real," Henry warmly said as he shook my hand for his farewell. I felt a twinge in my heart—he was an ideal father as I had none when I grew up. Again, I nodded to him. As their farewells were done, I got my bag from the floor and walked my way up to the door. James was right behind me.

Before I went through the door, I said, "Thank you for everything. I really enjoyed this night, and I hope to do this again sometime." I paused a little before I said, "Good night." And with that, I left the room.

I felt sad, but I didn't show it. I waited for James to pass through the door and show me the way out. There was silence while we were walking as we were too absorbed in our own thoughts. James was the one to break it.

"Aren't you going to change back to a redhead?" he asked, but he still wasn't looking at me.

"No. I'm too tired. I'll take it off when I get home," I replied, also not looking at him.

We arrived to our destination, and I could see the taxi waiting for me. I looked up to him, he looked down to me, and we stared at each other's eyes.

"I'll take you there," he said, referring to my car ride. He took my hand, and we walked slowly towards it. It was like he didn't want this night to end by the way he was walking. I thought he was too slow, but I really didn't mind at all. Maybe I was too tired to put up of defenses around him.

We were in front of the door of the taxi, and he opened it for me. He still had not yet released my hand from his grasp.

"Good night, Lily. Take care of yourself," he said tenderly as he kissed the back of my hand. It was a sweet gesture that I couldn't help but melt to. He released my hand as I sat inside the taxi.

"Thank you," I said, never taking my eyes off him as I slowly closed the car door. Before I completely closed it, I had a sudden urge to be mischievous and daring, so against my better judgment, I called out to him.

"Hey James!" I said loudly to get his attention, a mischievous twinkle gleaming in my eyes. He looked confused as he heard me through the door. I opened the door quickly, went outside the taxi, stood up in front of him, tiptoed to match his height, and kissed him right on the lips. All of these were done against my better judgment.

"Payback, James. Good night," I said breathily. I quickly went inside the taxi and closed the door. The driver, sensing my need to 'get away' quickly, started the engine and drove away. When I looked back, I saw James still standing there dumbfounded with a grin on his face. Seeing that made me grin too.

So I went away from the Potter mansion grinning, but fully knowing that I'll regret it in the morning. Well, it still wasn't morning, was it?

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

If you reached this part of the story, thank you for reading!

Sorry for the late update guys! I was busy with other things and hobbies. Forgive me? Well, since it was so long since I'd updated, I made this chapter longer, and I have to say, it's really long.

This is already the beta-ed chapter, which means that the next chapter will be posted soon! Yaay!

My beta and I would like to apologize for the lateness. Everything has been hectic with all the projects and papers to pass. I would hope that you would like the next chapter.

I was really surprised that I got that amount of reviews for this chapter. Thank you for taking the time to review! And a lot of people put the word 'yikes' in their review. Thank you for reading the a/n. Haha!

Thanks again for reading! I hope you liked it.


	7. The Second Date

Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own anything, so don't sue me, k? Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and the idea of a Private Actress belongs to Michiyo Akaishi, a mangaka

**Private Actress**

**Chapter 7: The Second Date **

It had been a few days since the family dinner, and there was relatively no progress in the assignment. The rumors about James dating a girl were dying out because they hadn't seen James her after that date. I guess they probably figured that it was a one-time thing. I had to do something to remedy that.

If it was really needed, I, myself, would ask James out for our second date, but I thought it would still be okay to let things go about this way. Of course, appearing in public was necessary; I just didn't want to do it right now, so forgive me for procrastinating. Besides, it doesn't have any effect on the assignment. I was professional enough to know what and what not to do.

I was currently sitting in our Social Studies class, and we were discussing about the Renaissance period. Actually, we were reporting about it, and the reporters were in front, boring us to death. The seats were arranged in a U-shape to make space for them, and since there was no particular seating arrangement for this, everyone was seated with their friends. It was inevitable that they didn't sit in their own seats.

Of course, being the loner that I am, I didn't have any friends to sit with, so I was alone in the corner. This wasn't a problem for me; I actually preferred it this way.

I looked at the bored faces of my classmates who were trying to amuse themselves, or at the least, wake themselves up. The lesson—or rather, report—was utterly boring that even I couldn't stay awake. What was the purpose of this anyway? I could easily read everything in our book.

In an attempt to shake off the sleepiness that was quickly spreading throughout my body, I focused on just observing my classmates. Doing this did not only shake off my drowsiness, but this practice also developed my observation and perception skills. Those were in needed in a job without so much instruction, where everything can go wrong anytime if I wasn't careful enough. One would never know what could come up on the job.

My eyes started to wander around the classroom, looking for the lucky victim who I will 'analyze' for this boredom session. While doing this, I noticed that most—if not all—of my classmates looked bored. Some of them were even sleeping already, but they weren't that obvious to gain the teacher's attention. Good for them since this teacher had a sharp tongue for students who 'slack off' in her subject.

I looked at each of my classmates, trying to see if there was anything interesting or unusual. My eyes continued to assess each one of them, until they landed on the unflattering figures of James Potter and his Marauder friends.

Just looking at him brought memories back into my unwilling mind.

Memories of _our kiss._

Believe me, those memories were best left forgotten. Surely enough, I felt regret as I woke up the morning after. It was completely unprofessional of me to kiss him when it wasn't needed, when all I could reason was 'payback'. How could I let myself do that? But after a few days of hating myself for it despite knowing fully well that I had enjoyed it for that time, I had accepted it and moved on. It was irritating, though, to be reminded yet again of my moment of impaired judgment.

I cleared my mind of anything remotely related to it, hoping to maintain my positive countenance. After a while, I looked at them again, wondering why my eyes were drawn to them, but after I saw them in their seats doing what they appeared to be doing, I thought it was a wonder that it was only I who was drawn to their figures.

The Marauders, who were intelligent even if they did not study, were _taking down notes. _At least, they appeared to be doing so. That in itself was ironic. I had never seen any of them make the effort to even act scholarly—well, maybe except for Remus, but that was already expected of him since he was the serious one in the group.

Knowing that because of previous observations, I concluded that they were in fact not taking down notes but were actually doing something else.

I looked at them intently but still not being too obvious to be called on by the teacher. I knew I was being nosy, but this scene piqued my interest more than any other activity going on inside the classroom. See? It was fun to observe people and guess what they were doing. It certainly pulled me out of my state of boredom and sleepiness.

After a few minutes of just observing them, I finally knew what they were doing and why exactly they were 'taking down notes'. It was pretty simple to figure it out, actually. I had to say that their gravest mistake was to actually pretend to be scholarly, which everyone knew they were not. They were just talking to each other, having a private conversation. I guess they acted like this to keep the teacher's attention away from them.

I was about to find another person to observe since I had already figured them out, but again, I noticed something strange about them, particularly the arrangement of their seats. Sirius and Peter's seats were in front of James' seat, and Remus was beside him. Admittedly, it wasn't that strange, but they were so close to each other that I found it suspicious.

One moment, they all looked serious in their discussion, then suddenly, almost everyone laughed with the exception of James who looked embarrassed. Sirius and Peter were suppressing their laughter, and Remus looked amused. Seeing their reactions made me curious about what they were talking about.

They were all looking at James' notebook with a twinkle in their eyes showing mirth. What was interesting about that notebook? I looked at James to see what he was doing. Then, I noticed that his hand was suspiciously under a notebook on his desk, and there was a pencil case above it, like its purpose was to hide the notebook—or his hand—from the teacher's view. Hmm, I wonder what that could be.

By now, the group had given up their pretense of taking down notes with Sirius and Peter looking bored and Remus still looking serious as he continued typing in his laptop. It was only James who looked anxious about something. Well, if I wasn't curious before, I would definitely be curious now. What could possibly make James, someone with a carefree attitude, be anxious, and even more, to let the feeling show on his face? Granted that only I noticed it, but still.

I wasn't able to answer the question myself as I felt a vibration in my pocket which distracted me from what I as doing. The vibration was only for a short while, so I guess I just got a text message.

Although I could wait until the break to read the message, I decided not to. After all, as I had said before, the only people who knew my mobile number were my manager and the people involved in my current assignment which were Elizabeth and James. All of those people were important and were needed to be replied as soon as possible—well, maybe except for James, but you get the point.

With literally years of practice, I got my mobile phone from my pocket and quickly hid it from the teacher's view. I put it inside my pencil case, so that it wouldn't be suspicious if I looked at it from time to time. I looked if the coast was clear, then I proceeded to read the message. So, who sent me the message this time of the day?

As I read the name of the sender, I blinked. Once. Twice. Was this for real? On the screen flashed the name...

_James Potter_

I quickly looked at the real person in this classroom with an incredulous look on my face. Of course, he didn't notice my expression—or me, for that matter—but I was surprised that he was the one who sent me the message. I quickly read it, curious of its contents.

_Hey Lily, what are you doing?_

I inwardly raised my eyebrow at that. The message was so simple that it was not worth being anxious over. I replied to his message.

_I'm in school, so what do you think am I doing? Why are you texting me? You're lucky I could afford to reply to you now, you know. Please don't forget that I'm also a student._

I assessed my reply. It was admittedly not short, but it conveyed a little of annoyance, and still I was able to inquire about the reason of his text. I sent the message and looked at him to see his reaction.

I didn't have to guess if he received my message—his eyes lit up, and he looked a little bit excited as he told his friends that I replied. With his friends watching out for the teacher, James sent his message, trying to look inconspicuous. Honestly, I felt a little anxious for his reply. Why? I didn't know, but I very well knew that I shouldn't be. In an attempt to clear my head of all its anxiety, I looked up to the reporters in front, purposely distracting myself.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw my mobile phone lit up inside my pencil case, indicating that it received a new message. Seemingly looking for something inside my pencil case, I read his reply.

_I just wanted to text you. Are you free after class?_

Just reading it, I already knew the real purpose behind his sudden interest to text me. He did it in the middle of class, too. Couldn't he at least wait until it was break time?

_Maybe, maybe not. Why are you asking?_

I inwardly smirked at my reply. I was making things harder for him, but I didn't feel any remorse for it. It was unusual though, for James to take the indirect approach. It was more like him to just ask me out since he was confident he wouldn't get rejected.

I waited for a few seconds for his reply. When my mobile phone lit up again, I quickly looked at his message. Of course, I still did everything inconspicuously. I wouldn't want the teacher to notice that I wasn't paying attention at all.

_I was hoping we could get together after school. --hint hint, wink wink--_

Now that reply was more of his character. I inwardly laughed at his message.

_I don't get your hint._

My reply was short and cryptic. Although it was obvious on what he was hinting at, I decided to be dense. As I had said, I intended to make things harder for him to ask me out. Besides, why didn't he just ask me directly? I had already witnessed how he asks girls out. Why would this circumstance be different? It made me a little curious.

_Okay, fine. I'll do it right._

Now, I was confused. What will he do right? I looked at the real James to see his expression, searching for at least a hint in his face. Then, another message came in.

_Lily, please go out with me after school today? Please?_

As I read his latest message, I inwardly grinned in triumph. He finally asked me out. He was so stubborn. Honestly though, his message made me smile on the inside.

But just before I could reply, the teacher called our attention with her loud voice. I looked in front of the classroom to see what was going on. The group who were reporting had finally finished.

"Thank you group four. Please give them a round of applause," the teacher said loudly, trying to 'wake' us all. I was actually startled by her sudden interruption, and I quickly removed my hand from my pencil case where my mobile phone was. As usual, only some clapped in response, and they weren't even enthusiastic at all. All of us were bored and sleepy. I, like the others, didn't even bother to clap.

"Please arrange your seats and bring out a size two. We'll have a pop quiz about everything that was reported today," she continued. Because of that, a lot of groans and moans were heard inside the classroom as they moved their chairs. Who listened to the reports anyway? I certainly didn't. They were so boring one couldn't think straight. Luckily, I studied what they had reported last night. I hoped that knowledge would suffice for this pop quiz.

Regarding James, I decided to reply to his message after the period. Besides, he would also be occupied with the quiz. Since after this period was lunch, I figured I would reply to him then. Plus, I would leaving him in suspense waiting for my reply.

Now, that thought was amusing.

* * *

"Please pass your papers to the front. Monitors, please pass towards the teacher's table," my teacher said, signaling the end of our test. I really was thankful that I studied, even though I didn't know there was going to be a test. I couldn't say the same though for some of my classmates.

I looked at the clock, wanting to know how much time we had left for the period., and I felt relieved that it was almost time. I was hungry, and I wanted to eat lunch.

"Please read chapters 18.1 and 18.2 about the Scientific Revolution. Discussion tomorrow," my teacher said as she also saw that it was almost the end of her period. She opened her mouth as she started to dismiss us from class when the ringing of the school bell interrupted her. She looked sheepish, and some of my classmates laughed softly at her antics. This was one of the reasons why I liked this teacher. Even though she was strict with her students, she knew how to laugh with us. She also knew how to laugh at herself, like now.

When the bell stopped ringing, she finally said the words most of us were waiting to hear since the start of her class.

"Class dismissed."

And with that, everyone stood up, packed their things, and immediately went to their friends. I guess they wanted to discuss the answers in the pop quiz. Well, I don't know, and honestly, I don't care.

I was fixing my things slowly, waiting for the people to go out of the classroom. Since I tried to be nonexistent in this class, I usually the last person to go out. Even though I was hungry, I wouldn't like to risk someone noticing me or something. Oh, the things I do for my job.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed that the Marauders were still inside the classroom with little indication that they'll go out of the classroom soon. This was strange as I knew Sirius and Peter had a big appetite, and they were always the first ones out the door for recess and lunch. Instead, they were talking by the corner where James was seated.

Okay, I had enough of observing them throughout the period, so I really tried to mind my own business, but when I accidentally heard my name from James' lips, it was hard for me not to eavesdrop on their conversation. Who wouldn't get curious with such provocation? I was a curious person by nature. They were definitely talking about me, and I wanted to hear what they would say. My hunger could wait.

I went to my locker at the back of the room and pretended to clean it up. It was my excuse to be near to them so that I could hear parts of their conversation. They wouldn't notice me anyway.

"So, did she reply yet?" Sirius asked in a casual tone. I bet he was also curious about my reply.

"Yeah, Did she agree?" This time, it was Peter to ask James.

"Well," James started to say, but he paused first before continuing. "There's still no reply."

I secretly smiled at that. I detected a hint of nervousness in his tone. Maybe Remus also noticed that and tried to pep him up a little bit.

"Maybe she'll reply during her lunch break. I don't think she'll not reply," Remus said to James, subtly trying to cheer him up. In the corner of my eye, I saw him pat James' back. I thought it was a manly way of comforting his best friend. I continued to look at them through my peripheral vision.

"Yeah, you're probably right," James said with a little bit of relief.

"Come on, let's go. I'm hungry," Peter said to his friends.

"You're always hungry, Pete," Sirius said jokingly. The other two Marauders laughed. James stood up from his seat

Knowing that their conversation was done and they would soon notice me if I stay any longer, I quickly closed my locker and went out the classroom as quietly as possible.

I proceeded to go to the school garden to eat. It was a place most—if not all—students didn't know. Since they didn't know of it, no one ever came there except for the people who maintain it, but they hardly counted. It was the perfect place to isolate oneself from others, plus, it was peaceful there. I was thankful that I found this during my first year of high how he school. I came here during break instead of the cafeteria since it would be wiser of me to do so. I did want to stay unnoticed after all.

I sat down by the foot of the tree which was my usual spot. I took out my packed lunch and started to eat. I also brought out my mobile phone, looking at it as I ate. I entertained the idea of him being anxious of my reply. That seemed impossible. Surely he didn't think I'd refuse, did he? There was no reason to decline. It would be good if we were seen together more often, so really, his worry was unnecessary.

As I looked at my mobile phone, I contemplated on whether or not to reply now or later. Actually, it didn't really matter; I was just delaying the inevitable, but thinking back on how anxious he was of my reply, I decided to just send the message later. Let him be anxious for a little while. He obviously wasn't used to that feeling, and one didn't know how many times he made me anxious because of his behavior, so this was only a kind of revenge.

Well, he couldn't do anything about it, now, could he?

When I had finally finished eating, I looked at my mobile phone again, thinking about the same thing as earlier, but as much as I wanted to make him wait longer, I thought it wouldn't be fair to him. There was also a possibility that he wouldn't concentrate in class, but thinking like that would be a little conceited for me. Well, there would always be a next time to annoy him, right?

_Sure. Where do we meet? Are your friends reading any of my messages?_

There, I finally replied to his message. I quietly laughed as I pictured him quickly reaching his phone, wanting to know what my reply was. Although it was quite conceited of me to think that he was eagerly waiting for my message, I think I wasn't wrong about that, given on how he reacted to my earlier messages during class time.

Now, I was just relaxing under the tree, waiting for the school bell to ring. I closed my eyes, wanting to rest for a moment before I go back. I still had at least 15 minutes before the time.

After a few minutes, I felt my phone vibrate on my lap. I opened my eyes, feeling a little annoyed that it disturbed my peace. Well, it was nearing time anyway. I read his message.

_Really? Yes! Can I meet you at your school? And my friends are not reading your messages._

I raised my eyebrow at that last remark. I was pretty sure they tried to read them, but James wouldn't let them. I was thankful for that.

_Where are we going? We'll meet somewhere near it. Meeting time will be four in the afternoon._

Of course, he couldn't meet me at my school. It would reveal where I went, and I wouldn't want him to know that. I thought I made it clear that he couldn't know anything about me that wasn't business related. Personal information are off-limits. I think he was pushing his luck, indirectly asking me which school I go to.

Well, with that, I packed my things, stood up from where I was seated and headed back to the classroom. Lunch break was ending in five minutes.

* * *

I was now on my way to the place where he said we would meet—Honeydukes, a candy shop in Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was a place full of restaurants and shops; it was the perfect place for a date.

Honestly, I was a little anxious about all of this. He still didn't tell me where we were going. Of course, he wouldn't take me to a candy shop, would he? I hoped he would have more sense than that.

I did a little bit of window shopping before I got there. I was a little early on our schedule, so I had to kill time. I wouldn't want to appear eager or anything. In fact, I was quite feeling the opposite, but there was nothing I could do about that.

I arrived at Honeydukes and saw James by the counter paying for what he bought. Seeing as there were some Hogwarts students present, I decided to put on a little show for them. It actually didn't matter whether we had an audience. We must act like a couple at all times when we were out together.

I headed off to the counter where James was just getting his bought goods. I was careful not to be in his line of sight. He was walking slowly to a corner, obviously intending to wait for me there. I was careful not to be in his line of sight. I wanted to surprise him.

I sneaked behind him, waiting for the right time to pounce on the 'prey'. As soon as he stopped when he reached his destination, I covered his eyes before he had a chance to turn around. I was suppressing my giggles, and I could tell he was grinning even I hadn't seen his face yet. I think it registered that the one covering his eyes was his 'girlfriend'. No one would have the courage do that to him. His friends, maybe, but he was sure they weren't there. Only his girlfriend had the right to do this to him.

He pried my hands off his eyes and turned around. In his eyes, I saw the Potter twinkle shining brightly in them. Seeing it gave me an impulse to just tiptoe and kiss him on the cheek. Which I did.

By then, I was pretty sure that our intended audience were paying attention to us, even if they were watching from the corner of their eyes.

In return, he also kissed my on my cheek, but he lingered there longer than I would have, making me blush slightly as I felt his breath against my skin. I stepped back, a little bit uncomfortable at his close distance. I was the first one to speak.

"Hi James," I said with a smile on my face like I was very happy to see him. Well, honestly, I didn't know how I truly felt about that.

"Hey Lily," he said affectionately.

"How was school?" I asked, like an inquiring girlfriend. I was making small talk—just something to make ourselves more comfortable with each other. Plus, I needed to appear like I really cared for him and that we were close.

"Tiring as usual. Are you ready to go?" he asked, excitement obvious in his voice. Now he reawakened my curiosity.

"Yes, I'm ready. James, where exactly are we going?" I asked him, trying to know where he planned our date. I still had to say whether or not it was smart going there. After all, we needed a lot of exposure every time we went out. If there would be no one to see us, then it would be pointless.

James smiled mysteriously, and I still didn't trust that smile yet. "You'll see," he said and offered his hand for me to take. "Let's go, shall we?"

After looking at him for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to trust him on this one, I finally gave in.

"We shall," I said, taking his hand into to mine.

And with that, we left the candy shop and our certainly attentive audience, and we walked through the streets of Hogsmeade hand in hand. I think we were getting used to holding hands in public. That was good.

As I looked around, I noticed that there were plenty of students roaming the place. Although I wasn't pretty sure where we were going, seeing this made me trust James' judgment more. Just walking in the streets gave us more exposure than we had on our last date. Now that I felt a little relieved by that thought, I felt the excitement kick in. I felt like I was going on a real date, and feeling that would make me look like I was honestly lovestruck with this man holding my hand.

During our walk, we passed through many shops and food places, and I wondered which we were going to. I was searching my head for all the possible places so I was deep in thought and wasn't really paying attention. I just led myself be led by him as I was thinking.

So when I felt that we finally stopped and I tried to look at the place, I was surprised by his hands suddenly covering my eyes, just like what I did to him at Honeydukes.

"James, what are you doing?" I said laughingly.

"Nothing. I just thought of getting revenge from earlier," he said, and then he laughed. "I bet you're curious, ne?"

I bet he didn't know how much. I think I had mentioned a lot of times how curious I am with these things.

"Who wouldn't be? So release my eyes!" I said, laughingly. I was still acting like I was enjoying his antics, but honestly, I felt a little annoyed. Maybe this was how he felt earlier that he considered doing this to me now.

But all of my thoughts were erased when I suddenly felt his breath near my ear. I didn't know why I was reacting like this, and to him of all people.

"You ready?" he whispered to my ear. I felt shivers down my spine. He was close to me, I could tell, but I tried to ignore it. Tried, being the keyword, and it seemed like I was failing.

"Of course," I replied, a little breathy. I cleared my throat, trying to restore my normal voice.

I heard him count from one to three. On the third count, he finally released my eyes. The first thing I saw was the frescoes outside of the place, so I immediately thought that we were in front of the cafe. I didn't recognize the place, so I looked around, trying to know its name. That was when I saw it. The name was written on the paper bag a couple was holding as they leaved the place. I quickly turned around to see James grinning.

On the paper bag, the name "Madam Puddifoot's" was written.

Madam Puddifoot's was the most expensive date spot in the area. My eyes were a little bit widened in surprise.

"Surprised?" she asked, amused. Yes, I definitely was. He didn't even know the half of it. "Come on, let's go inside."

I wasn't shocked that he brought me here. I was just surprised that he brought me _here._ It wasn't me who thought of this place. It was him, and that surprised me because this was the perfect place—perfect for our goal.

We went inside to see most of the people there were Hogwarts students. Of course, out of all the schools in the area, only these students could afford to eat at an expensive café. You see why this was the perfect place? I was pretty sure that they were watching us in the corner of their eyes. After all, James was pretty popular—if not, the most popular guy—in school. Almost everyone knew of him because of his good looks.

We sat on the seats by the window. It was a strategic place—a lot of people would be looking at us, and we were practically on display by the window. Anyone who would pass by could see us, and that was very good for the assignment. At this stage we needed a lot of exposure.

"Everything's on me. Order what you want," James said as I was leafing through the menu already placed on our table. He called attention to a passing waiter. At what he said, I gave him a slightly pointed look, but quickly covered it with a pleased expression as we had an 'audience'. I would have a talk with him later.

The waiter got our orders—I made sure to pick expensive food—and went back to the counter to pass the order. Again, we were left alone, and he took the initiative to start the conversation.

"So," he started to say, and then he paused. "Hi Lily." I think he didn't know what to say to me.

"You don't have to be so awkward, James. How could we pass as a couple?" I said, my tone betraying its content as I said it affectionately.

"Well, we haven't seen each other since the dinner," he said.

I just nodded, agreeing with him. "It has been a long time since we've seen each other, much less go out. This is just our second date. It's unplanned too."

"I just wanted to see you after school, that's all," he said, embarrassed.

"Aww, you missed me?" I cooed at him and giggled, playing the part of the affectionate girlfriend. Actually, by doing this, I was outwardly stating that I was romantically involved with this person to the few people—women—in the café who didn't know us.

"I was planning to just hang out here. Would that be alright?" he asked. Well, I wouldn't mind it since he had already accomplished our goal just by sitting in this area of the café.

"That's fine with me. I'm not in the mood to go around anyway," I said to him, really meaning it. Well, it was after school, and for some reason, I felt a little tired.

"Well, I'm just glad we're not shopping," he said, relief in his tone. Now that sentiment got me amused.

"You were remembering our first date, weren't you?" I lightly accused him. "I thought you said that you won't take me shopping anymore? You wouldn't have to worry about it."

"Well, I couldn't exactly say no when you wanted to go shopping, right? I bet you'd give me the evil eye," he said, and then laughed. I also laughed, thinking that what he said was true. If I wanted to go shopping with him, who was he to stop me? I was within certain rights to suggest what we would do during our dates.

"You're right about that," I said after I calmed down a little from our laughter. Now, we were feeling more at ease with each other. We were starting to talk more freely with each other. That was a good development.

Our conversation was interrupted as the waiter finally arrived with our orders in his tray, and placed them on our table. He directed his question to James. "Are all your orders here, sir?"

"Yes, thank you," James replied, and the waiter bowed in courtesy and walked away to attend to another customer. What a hard-working fellow.

"Let's eat," I said excitedly, looking at the cake with sparkling eyes. I could practically taste it in my mouth. "I totally love sweets," I continued to say. I picked up my fork and took a bite. The cake tasted heavenly.

"I could tell from your expression," he commented, amused, and he also began to eat his cake.

"It is my comfort food. Do you like sweets?" I said as I took another bite.

"I have a sweet tooth," he admitted. "That was partly why I asked to meet at Honeydukes. I needed to restock my supply of sweets," he said, and then lightly laughed.

"So that was what you were buying. I was pretty curious." Well, there was no end to my curiosity. That fact was quite obvious.

"Well, I bought something other than sweets," he said mysteriously. I only raised an eyebrow in response, outwardly showing that I wasn't interested in what he may be implying. Little did he know that I felt exactly the opposite. Gosh, I seemed like the proverbial cat that died because of curiosity, but I had yet to be killed.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said, and then grinned, unfazed by my indifferent face. It was either he didn't care that I wasn't interested as I claimed to be, or he knew me well enough to say that I was only feigning it. I certainly didn't show how curious I was. Like I said, it was unavoidable, too much ingrained in me that it was always popping up on every opportunity. If he knew that, then I admit it was a mystery how he did.

'_It's none of my business, I can assure you,'_ I thought to myself, imagining my tone to be a little bit unfriendly. He was getting a little overconfident of himself. It was one of his traits that really pushed me of the edge sometimes. Well, I needed to think of something to take my mind of his insufferable attitude that drove me crazy.

Whenever I was irritated, it always helped to think about the assignment. It made me think more objectively; thus, making me forget whatever feelings that had been provoked within me. The method was quite effective, and it helped me get ideas for the improvement of the assignment.

Of course, I didn't quite show him how mildly irritated I was. I wouldn't be a successful PA if I couldn't handle or hide my emotions—no matter how small they were—well.

Well, I decided that it was time to change the topic. Believe me, if we continued talking about this, the end might be an unpleasant sight which would not contribute at all to our 'cause'. My infamous temper would come out, and it definitely wouldn't be nice to see.

I focused back to the real world where he was waiting for at least a little response from me. I shook my head in an endearing way with a small smile on my face. I acted like I was amused by his idea that he thought I was curious. "Think whatever you like," I said casually, and ate a piece of my delicious cake.

I thought it was a little infuriating when he grinned at me in that all-knowing way, and I know just what to do to wipe that grin off his face. I inwardly smirked at the thought. In preparation of what I was going to do, I got a piece of my cake and settled the fork by my plate. My hand never strayed far from it.

I think it was obvious of what I was going to do. It was very simple and admittedly unoriginal, but pretty fun—and funny—for me.

"Hey," I said to get his attention. He looked at me with his questioning gaze, his grin now formed into a smile. "Just humor me," I said and with a cheeky smile on my face, I quickly picked up my fork—with the cake—and force fed him with it without any warning.

And the look on his face was so priceless that I was immediately in a fit of giggles. His eyes were widened a bit in surprise, and he wore a dumbfounded look that was so funny, it was hard not to laugh at him. And I did. Hard, but still controlled. After all, I didn't want to appear like a lunatic.

Imagine it. James Potter's girlfriend was slightly loony. I think no one would accept us. I wouldn't satisfy the criteria for being James' woman. Hmmph, as if I cared about that.

"I can't believe you did that," James said, his eyes a little bit widened and his voice astonished.

"I'm sorry," I said in between giggles. After a while, I calmed down from laughing and continued to speak. "I had the urge to do it. It was pretty funny, don't you think?" I flashed him a grin.

"You are unbelievable," he said, shaking his head with a small smile on his face, just like what I did earlier. Actually, I was pretty thankful he didn't react to it that strongly. I hoped he didn't want revenge. It wasn't that bad, really. I just surprised him with unexpected behavior.

"Then I hope…" he continued to say. "…that I would be allowed to do the same thing," he said, raising an eyebrow. Of course, he expected me to agree.

It was my turn to be surprised. He was looking at me directly, waiting for my answer, although he quite knew what it would be. Honestly, I felt pretty lucky that he was asking permission first. I certainly didn't do the same. Now that fact persuaded me to consent him. Feeding me, per se, wouldn't be that bad. We would actually look pretty sweet, so that was a plus.

"Of course," I said confidently, but inside, I was unsure and suspicious. Would he let me off the hook that easy? Judging from past experiences—like the first date and the dinner—it wasn't likely. Maybe he was waiting for the right time to attack. Was he planning something? Well, it couldn't be that bad, I guess—or rather, I _hoped_ it wasn't. He hadn't done anything that actually made me wary of him, but there could always be a first time for everything.

Focusing on him again, he got a piece of his cake and offered it to me with smile on his face.

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what he did. He was returning the favor, wasn't he? He got permission to feed me as I did with him, albeit forcibly and was done to surprise him.

So when he offered the cake just halfway that I still needed to get closer in order to eat it, my suspicions of him were confirmed—he was definitely planning something. What it was, I didn't know, but the thought was making me a little anxious. Maybe I was reading too much in his simple gesture. Maybe not. But I thought why would he do it halfway? I mean, if he was going to do it—he even asked permission for it—wouldn't he rather do it right? It was common sense, wasn't it?

But seeing as I had no choice but to get closer to eat the cake—and I already agreed to this so everything was really 'set in stone'—I leaned forward. I looked directly in his eyes for a moment, and when I was assured that he wouldn't do anything, I finally ate the piece, closing my eyes for a moment for effect. I had this a lot of times—the closed eyes effect, or the 'delighted face' as I liked to call it—so the act wasn't overdone despite the hint of exaggeration when one just simply heard of it.

But honestly, the cake was really delicious, so the 'delighted face' wasn't totally an act.

"Thanks for the cake. It was delicious," I said, and then I smiled at him. Well, he didn't do anything to me, so it was fine, I guess. That didn't mean I should let down my defenses. Actually, around him, I should always be careful. He was a spontaneous person that did some things when he just felt like it.

"You're welcome," he said and smiled warmly at me, and I suddenly felt a little fluttery. Why I did, I didn't know, but I ignored the feeling as much as I could. "Hey," he continued to say. "You have something on your cheek. Well, actually, it's on the corner of your lip."

"Oh," I began to reach a tissue on my right to remove it when he stopped me. I looked at him a little confused and bewildered. Why would he stop me? Was there something wrong? I tried again to see if he was insistent on stopping me, when his hand took hold of my hand.

"Is there something wrong, James?" I asked him, glancing at our intertwined hands. He was smart to make it seem like we wanted to hold hands, and it bothered me that he wanted to stop me from what I was doing. There was nothing wrong with getting a tissue to remove some unfavorable things on my face, wasn't it? Unless he was planning something, which I somehow believe he would.

"Nothing at all. I just…" he trailed off, and he looked a little embarrassed—which was pretty cute, but I would never admit that out loud. I looked at him expectantly, wanting to know why he stopped me. "…wanted to do it for you, that's all."

There was a moment of silence between us, and I only stared at him, quite bewildered. Goodness, why would he want to do that? "That's not necessary, but thank you, I guess," I said unsurely. I tried to pull away from his hand, but he had quite a tight grip on it.

"Don't you think it's better that I do it? It would just be another thing in our list of PDAs we have done today," he persuaded me. He did have a point though, but still, I think he had something up his sleeve. I knew I was being a little bit paranoid, but I knew James had a lot of pride, and he wouldn't let me get away with what I did.

Now I didn't know what to reply. Would I allow him to, when I clearly knew he was planning something? But looking back on our past encounters, he didn't really do anything that bad to me. Admittedly, all of them were kind of romantic—he always kissed me in retaliation, as I had noticed—so it couldn't hurt to let him do it, right? I mean, it wouldn't hurt the assignment; it would actually be good to perform the act.

Goodness, why was I persuading myself to agree?

I honestly knew that I was delaying the inevitable. I had observed James enough to know that once he had his mind set on something, he was determined to go through with it. I was pretty surprised he had some acting skills to use for his advantage. His embarrassment act earlier was quite convincing, and I hoped to use those skills for _my_ advantage for the assignment, like right now for instance, so I finally replied to his suggestion.

"If you really wanted to…" I trailed off, saying it a bit offhandedly, and I looked away as if I was embarrassed. I had already agreed, and everything was in motion. By acting shy and a bit reluctant, I created a different mood, a different atmosphere around us, like this one action was unusual and surprising for us both but in a good way, a romantic way. That impression would benefit us more than anything that happened this afternoon so far.

His hand tightened against mine as he held it, and his other hand slowly turned my head so I would look at him. His touch was so gentle, and I slightly leaned on it, looking deeply into his eyes all the while. With little effort, he made me lean forward, and I was dazed enough not to notice that he did the same.

I knew I was making a big deal out of this small thing, but let us just say that this was the highlight of the whole afternoon.

"The thing is just…" My eyes widened a bit, and my mouth unconsciously parted its lips.

"..right…" His voice turned breathy, and we were slowly closing the gap between us. My eyes slowly closed.

"…here." Our lips met.

Another revenge finished with a kiss. It was short, but sweet. And fortunately, it created the effect which could start the rumors all over again.

In the back of my mind, I could honestly say that I expected this to happen. With James, anything was possible, and if I knew how his mind worked—which I did, undoubtedly—his form of revenge tended to be in the form of romance. This idea, I got from past experiences, and I knew how to make good use of that small piece of information.

But I could also honestly say that this hadn't occurred to me until after he had kissed me. I was too unfocused. He was too distracting. And his lips were definitely soft.

I opened my eyes to see him grinning, and this time, I really felt the embarrassment. I didn't know why I felt that way, and honestly, it was my first time feeling this. Of course, I didn't show it. I wouldn't know the consequences if I did.

"You're pushing it, dear," I said to his smug face with an eyebrow raised and a pointed look, but effect was destroyed because of the small smile that my lips had formed. He probably wouldn't take me seriously. He just gave me his infuriating grin and said, "I know, right?"

Ooh, if I could only wipe that smug grin off his face. I faced a lot of clients who were like this, but this was evidently the first time someone had gone under my skin. Honestly, it was throwing me a little off balance.

I just laughed in response, looking like I was amused at his answer. I thought any other reaction—like the ones I had in mind—wouldn't be appropriate and might compromise the assignment. Well, there was nothing I could do but to push down whatever mixed feelings I had and move on. It should be easy, after all, I was a private actress—and a damn good one, may I add.

After that incident, everything went on smoothly, and although we didn't do more things that were couple-like, there were still subtle touches here and there that indicated that we were somehow romantically involved. Surprisingly, James was a good conversationalist, and we talked about everything under the sun. That was definitely a plus.

It went like that for the whole afternoon, and soon, it was time for us to go. Admittedly, I had fun, talking to James like a normal person would—well, after we did the kiss. It was a little bit refreshing since almost every encounter we had was full of flirting and romance. The start of this date was even like that. Although that was the point of the assignment, we also had to look normal—couples weren't like that all the time, you know. There should be moments where they just enjoy spending time together, like what we did today. We had to make this relationship look real, hadn't we? Besides, him just spending time with an unknown girl would still certainly create rumors, even if that girl was just a friend. That was just they way James' life runs.

He signaled for a waiter to get the bill, and when it finally arrived, I tried to take a peek at how much this afternoon had cost, but he foresaw my move and quickly took it out of my sight saying, "I'm paying for it. You don't need to know the cost," and laughed. He took out a couple of dollars from his wallet—I wasn't sure if they were one dollar or ten dollar bills—and gave it to the waiter. With that, we stood up from our table and went out of the café.

"As much as I'd like to spend more time to you, it's not nice for a girl to go home late," he said jokingly as we walked through the streets Hogsmeade. His smile was wide, but I felt that he was a little bit serious about what he said from looking into his eyes. I was actually a bit surprised that he said that; it was a gentlemanly gesture. Maybe, I didn't see that coming from him.

"Thank you for caring, James," I flashed him a smile, and it was sincere. It was kind of sweet, really. He still cared for my well-being even if we were not really a couple. I decided not to dwell further on that thought.

"Hey Lily," he started to say, and then he paused for a moment. I replied even if I knew he was still not finished saying what was on his mind. "Yes, James?" I said, and looked curiously at him. Was there something he wasn't saying?

"You see, my parents are hosting a ball next week to celebrate their anniversary, and it's kind of required for me to bring a date so…" he trailed off on his next words. I actually figured out what he was saying. Although the Potters had not yet mentioned to me about it, I had clients within the elite to mention to me at least once about the Potters anniversary ball. It was an annual ball, and every elite family was invited. I think I actually went to it once, but I was too preoccupied with my job, and of course, people didn't recognize me because I was wearing a different disguise.

"So?" I asked, deciding not to show that I knew what he was saying. What can I say, I loved seeing him uncomfortable. And on the inside, I found him just a little bit cute when he was like this, but I would never say that to his face. I wouldn't even admit that fully to myself.

For some reason unknown, he suddenly regained his confidence and said, "Will you go with me to the ball?" in a charming and flirty manner. Now that was the James Potter that I know—confident that he would never get turned down by a girl. He was, after all, a sought-out bachelor. It was why I was even hired in the first place. Sadly, I couldn't turn down the invitation as it was part of the assignment, but inside, I wanted to be the first girl to do that to him. At least, I would give him lasting memories. Haha.

"Of course, James," I said, and then I made my eyes twinkle as if I was excited upon the prospect of being James' date. After years of being in the business, I had perfected all those techniques like crying in a matter of seconds and consciously making myself blush. Instant reactions were needed in the acting business, right?

"Yes!" he suddenly said, and he smile really big. Did he actually expect that I was going to turn him down? As much as I wanted to, it wasn't an option. Or maybe he was also acting. You know, with James, it seemed like anything is possible. I had seen more of his personality during the assignment than the years that I'd seen him in school and more recently, in class. There was a lot more that I didn't know about him.

I decided to voice out my opinion and said, "Did you really think that I'll turn you down?" At that, he just smiled at me mysteriously and continued walking. Although I felt a twinge of irritation for his answer—it was that mysterious smile that sometimes infuriated me—I decided to let it go since I think I already knew the answer to my question.

After that, we just walked silently together along the streets of Hogsmeade. I didn't know what else to say, and I think he had the same problem, but either way, the silence was comfortable. I didn't mind the silence. It was like that for a few moments, so I was a little surprised that he spoke first. Although of course, I didn't show it.

"You know," he started to say, still not looking directly at me. "This day was fun. This date was fun." And this was the time that he looked at me straight in the eye. I can't actually disagree with that; admittedly, I also had fun, believe it or not. I just nodded to him to show my agreement and smiled. He smiled back and continued to speak.

"It's so fun that I don't want it to end," he said seriously, and I felt myself involuntarily flush under his intense gaze. He was unexpectedly sweet, and yet, I didn't know if what he was saying was true or just an act. You would never really know with James Potter. Nonetheless, with the way he said those words, I melted inside, and I definitely tried to hide that from him. Luckily, I was successful except for the blush staining my cheeks red.

"You are such a sweet-talker," I said, trying to brush off what he said and lighten up the atmosphere between us. This was the first time that I was caught off guard. What was so different with him compared to the other clients that he made me feel this way? I need to avoid this. "Sadly, it will end," I said in a nonchalant voice.

Maybe he noticed my discomfort and decided to joke. "But I don't know how to," he replied, and then grinned. I was glad for that response—things between us got lighter. I decided to ride along.

"It's just simple, really. Just hail a taxi and I'll take care of the rest. We are just walking beside the street, you know," I said, a little bit jokingly, but I was a little serious. I felt the need to get away as soon as possible. I didn't know why, but I just felt it.

"Okay. You need to get home anyway. It's getting late," he said.

For a moment, we weren't talking as he waited for a taxi to pass by, and when one did, he hailed it for my sake. Inside, I felt glad that this date was almost over. Of course, it wasn't over until I kissed him goodbye, and I still hadn't done it yet. Of course, I planned to do it; I was just waiting for the most opportune time.

The taxi stopped in front of us, and James opened the door for me. If I was waiting for the best time to kiss him, I thought this was it, so before he could do or say anything, I kissed him on the lips and said, "Thank you for today, James. And yes, I will take care of myself." I smiled at him. He grinned in return.

"You already knew what I was going to say. I'll not say it then. Good night, Kate," he said, using my name for this assignment. It was good that he remembered.

"Good night, James," I whispered, and I went inside the taxi and closed the door. The date was finally over. I really tried not to look back, but against my own will, I did, and I didn't see him standing there looking at the taxi. He wasn't within my line of sight, and I figured that he already went to his car or something. With that, I looked back in front, and you know what.

I had mixed feelings.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

If you reached this part of the story, thank you for reading!

I know I haven't updated for months, and I'm really sorry for that. There's no excuse for it, so I decided to make this longer. So much longer. I'm sorry! It's just that it's the time for college entrance exams, and I lost inspiration. I'm really sorry!

This is not the beta-ed chapter, so I'll replace this one someday.

Please review! And if you read the a/n, the word of the chapter is 'yikee'. Haha! Thanks for reading the author's notes.

Thanks again for reading! If there is anything I need to clarify, please ask by reviewing, and I'll reply. I hope you liked it.


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